There are approximately thirty women in the Kigoma market who sit in cramped vegetable stalls and sell the same produce at the same price. They stack their identical tomatoes in pyramids of four or five, and sit back waiting for customers to come. At the end of the day, according to this former seller, they store their leftovers on the floor underneath the stall. Rats are not a problem she says, only cockroaches.
The next day when the tomatoes are no longer so firm-looking she's not worried. Regular customers might refuse them, but all the restaurants in town need tomatoes, and they aren't so picky about quality. In the morning they come to buy the previous day's produce to add to their sauces and stews and salads.
If they've gone too bad even for the restaurants, well the women have just got to take the tomatoes home and cook them up themselves.
