Govt to probe groups over food price hikes

The Government has launched a probe into several local trade cooperatives over alleged irregularities in internal trading system of locally produced foodstuffs. Cooperatives that are under investigation include Abadehemuka, which is suspected of having unlawfully imposed monopolistic directives to farmers. The cooperative acts as a middleman between farmers and consumers. A meeting that brought together the ministers of Commerce Monique Nsanzabaganwa Agriculture Christophe Bazivamo and several other Government officials on Monday, proposed a joint action to find a solution to this problem. Other participants included Governors, Mayors and the Commissioner General of Rwanda National Police, Andrew Rwigamba. According to Nsanzabaganwa, a toll-free hotline should be established to ease the flow of information. Rwigamba told the meeting that if farmers could be directly involved in the trade, they would be able to help the Government find out who gets what between the traders and farmers. The probe, spearheaded by the Commerce ministry, under the support of the National Police, aims to address a mismatch in producer and final consumer foodstuff prices. Abadahemuka was barred by the Ministry of Commerce from trading in other foodstuffs apart from Irish Potatoes. Currently a kilogram of some foodstuffs like Irish Potatoes costs about Frw55 from upcountry farmers and sells at Frw120 to final consumer in the City of Kigali. And identifying the actual role of cooperatives in the hiking of the prices is what Nsanzabaganwa says will be used as a benchmark to normalise the prices at the local market. The free flow of foodstuffs to the market after removal of trade barriers like the one of Abadahemuka cooperative will ensure favourable consumer prices, said the minister. Many officials at the meeting argued that the price difference is a serious issue that independent traders and consumers are the ones who bear the burden. They pointed out many areas where the Government could intervene and initiate reforms, so that local foodstuff could easily access the market. Providing trade financing and improving facilitation, building human capacity, and addressing its related negative impacts were pointed out as the best measures to address the problem. At a time when there is a global food crisis, Rwanda has not experienced any food shortage as production has remained constant.Ends