Food prices remain subdued despite rising agricultural costs

MBABANE – Food prices in Eswatini remained largely stable between August and September, despite mounting agricultural input costs and supply pressures that could threaten prices ahead of the next planting season.

The latest Monthly Price Tracker (MPT) conducted by the Eswatini Competition Commission (ESCC) shows that most essential food commodities recorded only modest movements during the month, although significant increases were recorded for onions and larger packs of beans.

The MPT is conducted under the ESCC’s Market Monitoring and Surveillance Guidelines to track movements in prices of essential food commodities and identify unusual changes that may require further assessment from a competition and consumer welfare perspective.

The September tracker is based on average prices collected from participating retail outlets across the country, with prices averaged according to commodity and pack size.

Rice, maize meal remain relatively stable

MBABANE – Despite the increases recorded in some food categories, several key staples remained relatively stable.

The average price of a 5kg bag of rice increased by 1.49 per cent, from E65.64 to E66.62, while the 10kg pack increased by 0.97 per cent, from E111.50 to E112.58.

Maize meal, one of the country’s key staple foods, recorded even smaller movements.

The average price of a 5kg bag increased by just 0.16 per cent, from E70.41 to E70.52, while the 10kg pack increased by 0.36 per cent, from E131.79 to E132.27.

Sugar prices were also relatively contained. The 3kg pack increased by 1.95 per cent, from E60.44 to E61.62, while the 5kg pack rose by 0.62 per cent, from E98.13 to E98.74.

Not all commodities became more expensive.

Cooking oil recorded price reductions across both pack sizes monitored by the ESCC.

The average price of 750ml cooking oil fell by 0.51 per cent, from E35.17 to E35.00, while the 2-litre pack recorded a more substantial 3.44 per cent decline, from E76.02 to E73.41.

Milk prices also decreased. The average price of a one-litre pack declined by 0.55 per cent, from E20.85 to E20.74, while a six-pack of one-litre milk fell by 0.85 per cent, from E114.35 to E113.38.

Egg prices showed mixed movements.

The average price of six eggs increased by 1.33 per cent, from E17.77 to E18.01, while the 60-egg pack declined by 1.30 per cent, from E125.30 to E123.67.

Poultry prices also showed different movements depending on the pack size.

The average price of fresh poultry increased by 2 per cent, from E55.74 per kilogram to E56.86 per kilogram.

However, the 2kg pack increased only 0.12 per cent, from E78.31 to E78.40, while the 5kg pack declined by 0.94 per cent, from E180.02 to E178.33.

The differing movements reinforce the ESCC’s observation that some price changes may be associated with specific brands or pack sizes rather than broad-based changes affecting an entire commodity category.

Vegetables recorded some of the most contrasting movements during the month.

While the average price of cabbage declined slightly by 0.58 per cent, from E15.91 to E15.81 per head, spinach recorded a much larger 7.61 per cent decline, falling from E11.33 to E10.47 per bunch.

Onions moved in the opposite direction, recording the tracker’s largest increase of 12.13 per cent.

This means consumers experienced substantially different price movements even within the vegetable category, reflecting the different supply conditions affecting individual products.

Onion prices lead increases

MBABANE – The most pronounced movement in the food basket was recorded in onions.

The average price of a 1kg bag of onions increased by 12.13 per cent, rising from E24.01 in August to E26.93 in September.

Beans also registered a notable increase, particularly for the larger pack. The average price of a 5kg bag increased by 5.44 per cent, from E155.88 to E164.37.

By comparison, the price of a 2kg bag moved only marginally, increasing by 0.06 per cent from E70.37 to E70.42.

The ESCC said the onion increase could be linked to Eswatini’s reliance on South Africa for onion supplies.

Lower supply volumes, combined with continued demand in the South African market, may have contributed to the increase in prices locally.

The commission also cautioned that some movements in the food basket could be attributable to changes involving specific brands rather than broad market-wide price increases.

Such movements may reflect brand-specific pricing, marketing or other commercial strategies, meaning that an increase in the average price of a particular commodity does not necessarily indicate a generalised increase across the entire market.

Sugar beans face supply pressure

MBABANE – The movement in bean prices comes against changes in the regulatory environment governing sugar-bean imports.

The ESCC noted that the increase coincided with the implementation of a total sugar-bean import restriction by NAMBoard.

The commission explained that restricting imports can place upward pressure on domestic prices when imported products previously formed part of the available market supply.

When access to imported supplies is reduced, the quantity available to consumers falls. At the same time, domestic producers may not immediately be able to increase production sufficiently to compensate for the lost imports.

Where demand remains relatively stable, the resulting supply constraint can therefore push prices higher.

This dynamic is particularly important for agricultural commodities because supply cannot necessarily respond immediately to changes in market conditions.

Beef prices edge higher

MBABANE – Beef prices increased across all four cuts monitored by the ESCC, although the movements remained relatively modest.

The average price of stewing beef increased by 0.73 per cent, from E124.79 to E125.71 per kilogram.

Brisket increased by 0.93 per cent, from E129.14 to E130.34, while chuck recorded a 1.43 per cent increase, from E132.99 to E134.90.

Meaty bones recorded the smallest movement, increasing by 0.39 per cent from E51.52 to E51.72 per kilogram.

While September’s consumer food prices were generally subdued, the ESCC has highlighted a potential source of future pressure: agricultural input costs.

According to the African Market Observatory (AMO), regional urea prices remained elevated in August 2026 despite a decline in the global urea price.

AMO reported a global urea price of approximately US$390 per tonne in August, compared with US$854 per tonne in South Africa.

The significant difference between global and South African prices is important for Eswatini because the country relies on South Africa for fertiliser imports. Disruptions affecting fertiliser supplies through South Africa could therefore have implications for domestic agricultural production costs.

The elevated cost of agricultural inputs could place additional pressure on farmers ahead of the next planting season.

However, the ESCC stressed that higher input costs do not automatically translate into equivalent increases in consumer food prices.

The extent to which such pressures eventually reach consumers will depend on several factors, including when farmers purchase inputs, production decisions, yields, exchange-rate movements, transport costs and prevailing market conditions.

Commodity Price Movement Between August – September 2026