An official at Bogota’s central food storage warehouse says prices of certain foods have risen by 12% due to difficulties in transporting foodstuffs, financial publication Dinero reported Thursday.
The transport difficulties are in turn the result of the many festivals that have been taking place in capital cities across Colombia during the holiday season, and floods caused by the winter rains.
Pedro Pablo Treviño, the coordinator of prices at Bogota Central Storage Warehouse, said that many vegetables are currently in short supply.
Treviño said “The water [floods] ruined much of the harvest, so there are low inventories of spinach, lettuce, cilantro, cauliflower, chard, radishes, and green beans.”
He also said that many agricultoral workers have delayed their crops as a preventative measure against the low temperatures at this time of year.
“Another reason why few green beans are arriving is the Carnaval in Nariño, while the Feria de Manizales means arracacha [a root vegetable] is reduced. People are more focused on partying at this time of year and they are not working. For this reason not much is coming from the municipal capitals,” said the prices coordinator.
In contrast, there is a plentiful supply of plantain, bananas, rice, lentils, chickpeas, beef, chicken and fish.