South Africa: Potato prices set to spike

The price of potatoes is expected to increase in the next four weeks – and there is a chance of even more hikes in December. But despite the spike in spuds, low-family households are still expected to continue buying the popular vegetables, because apart from being an important form of starch, putting potatoes in the pot enables stews to thicken up, Mervyn Abrahams, the director of the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (Pacsa), said on Wednesday. He was commenting on a report by Absa Agri-business which has warned about the possible potato price increase (going to levels of between R5-R6/kg), because of supply being insufficient to meet the demand. More