Prime
Yams have a consistent market
Yams are tuber crops and Uganda is one of the countries in Africa that grow yams as a food crop. Though the crop is grown in most parts of the country, there is more concentrated growing for it in the central and eastern regions.
Ms Ruth Nakalembe, a vendor in Owino market, says most of their produce comes from Port Bell, Kitante, Mbale and sometimes Fort Portal. Ms Angela Amwine, a vendor at Ggaba market, says that most of the produce received at the market is mainly grown at the shores of Lake Victoria.
According to Ms Nakalembe, yams are available all year round since there is always someone planting and another harvesting everyday. Yams grow well in swamps. No wonder Ms Nakalembe says their main season is from August to December because it is a rainy season and rain enhances the growth of yams. She adds that February and March, is when yams are most scarce on the market.
Because of inflation and high prices that are affecting most products, Ms Nakalembe says that the price range, when in or not in season is not usually big. Ms Amwine says that the prices have actually gone up now.
At Ggaba market, three or four medium sized yams would go for Shs1,000 but now cost Shs2,000. The big ones cost Shs4,000. At Owino market, a sack that one would buy at Shs30,000 and sell it at Shs50,000 is now bought at Shs80,000 and sold off between Shs100,000 and Shs120,000.
Both Ms Nakalembe and Ms Amwine say one can only get to buy a whole sack with ease when the yams are in season and when scarce, Ms Nakalembe says that they buy them in pieces and from different farmers.
They both say that though there is less profit, the market is good. “People love yams. Usually when I bring a sack of yams, I sell it in a day or two. But that’s only when they are scare because when plenty, every vendor has as much. Then it may take four days to sell all the produce bought.
The challenge in this trade may be in keeping the yams fresh until the last one is bought. Ms Nakalembe says that the secret is keeping the yams in a cool dry place. She adds, “Though yams grow in watery places, keeping them in water makes them rot. The best way is to keep the yams in a sack punched with holes to keep its freshness. But do not keep them in a plastic bag.”
Yams only vary depending on where they are grown from. Ms Amwine says that it’s the soil type that makes them look different but usually the seed type is the same. “But the ones that grow in a lot of water will be very watery when cooked,” she says.
