By: Melanie Aanyu

Beans and maize are one of the most common foods consumed in the country because of their low prices. However, the rising cost of commodities could change this as farmers struggle to get the seeds .
During the first planting season (March to July), many farmers had hoped for a bumper harvest, but an unrelenting dry spell that lasted three months in many parts of the country withered the crops resulting in poor harvests.
Because of this, many farmers across the country are currently struggling to get seeds to plant for the second season after registering poor yields in the previous season.
The second season is expected to start this month although some areas such as Kayunga began theirs in mid-August and is expected to end in November.
Farmers are now visiting shops to purchase seeds for planting, competing with other buyers who need the seeds for consumption such as school proprietors.
This has pushed the prices of various seeds such as beans and maize through the roof.
For example, the price of a kilogramme of dry beans ranges between Shs4,500 and Shs5,000 in most shops across Uganda. For maize grain, a kilogramme goes for Shs2,500 up from Shs1,100 eight months ago.