Weeks of sudden, sustained seasonal downpours commonly referred to as the ‘May/June’ rains continued for much of this week across the country, making clearer with each passing day the extent of the havoc that has been wrought on the agricultural sector and some of those who must depend on the sector for their livelihoods and their nourishment.
Across the country, this week, there was evidence that the rains had taken a toll on the hustle and bustle of municipal markets. Vendors were in a pensive mood, bemoaning the ‘jacked up’ prices for fruit and vegetables reaching them from farms across the country. It seemed that it had taken some time for consumers to begin to realize that the bounty that they had come to take for granted had disappeared beneath the floodwaters, gouging huge craters in fruit and vegetables supplies. In the marketplace ‘crunch time’ had come.
