Tanzania Food Prices: Market-Level Trends for Maize, Rice, and Staples

Market-level food price records for the United Republic of Tanzania sourced from the World Food Programme Price Database. The data tracks essential commodities such as maize, rice, and beans with historical observations potentially dating back to 1992. It is updated weekly and primarily consists of monthly price points across various local markets.

Use Cases

• Analyzing price volatility for staples like maize and rice to identify periods of food insecurity
• Comparing fish and sugar price differences across various Tanzanian markets to map regional economic disparities
• Forecasting future food costs using historical monthly price data dating back to the early 2000s

Strengths

• Sourced from the World Food Programme's primary field monitoring network
• Includes specific commodity tracking for maize, rice, beans, fish, and sugar
• Provides longitudinal data spanning over 20 years for select locations

Limitations

• Significant variation in start dates between different markets
• Potential reporting gaps as the database relies on a mix of weekly and monthly inputs

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) Price Database

Collection Method

Field monitoring and market surveys

Time Range

1992 - 2026

Freshness

Updated weekly, though the majority of the underlying data is reported at a monthly frequency.

Geography

United Republic of Tanzania