Nyanya hizi bado ni bichi, kwa hiyo hatutazikata leo.

Yes — nyanya can mean both tomato and grandmother in Swahili.

In this sentence, it clearly means tomatoes because of the rest of the sentence:

• hizi = these for things/nouns in the relevant plural class
• bichi = unripe/raw
• hatutazikata = we will not cut them

So the context makes tomatoes the only sensible meaning here.

Because nyanya belongs to a noun class where the singular and plural often look the same.

So:

• nyanya hii = this tomato
• nyanya hizi = these tomatoes

The noun itself stays nyanya, and the words agreeing with it — like hii/hizi and object markers like i-/zi- — show whether it is singular or plural.

Because hizi is the plural demonstrative meaning these for this noun class.

Compare:

• nyanya hii = this tomato
• nyanya hizi = these tomatoes

So hizi tells you the speaker is talking about more than one tomato.

That is normal Swahili word order.

Swahili commonly puts the demonstrative after the noun:

• nyanya hizi = these tomatoes
• literally, something like tomatoes these

English usually puts this/these before the noun, but Swahili often places it after.

Here, bado means still.

So:

• bado ni bichi = are still unripe

A useful thing to know is that bado can also be translated as not yet in other contexts, depending on the sentence. But in this one, still is the natural meaning.

Ni is the copula, the word used for is/are in this kind of sentence.

So:

• nyanya hizi ... ni bichi = these tomatoes ... are unripe

A helpful point: ni does not change for singular/plural or person here. It stays ni.

Examples:

• nyanya hii ni bichi = this tomato is unripe
• nyanya hizi ni bichi = these tomatoes are unripe

Bichi means unripe, raw, or not yet ready, depending on context.

With tomatoes, the natural meaning is:

• unripe
• possibly still green

So nyanya hizi bado ni bichi means the tomatoes are not ripe enough yet.

Kwa hiyo means therefore, so, or that’s why.

It connects the first idea to the result:

• Nyanya hizi bado ni bichi = these tomatoes are still unripe
• kwa hiyo = so / therefore
• hatutazikata leo = we will not cut them today

So the sentence has a clear cause-and-result structure.

It breaks down like this:

• ha- = negative
• -tu- = we
• -ta- = future
• -zi- = them (for these tomatoes)
• kata = cut

So:

• ha-tu-ta-zi-kata
• we will not cut them

This is a very useful Swahili pattern:
negative + subject + tense + object + verb root

Because the verb is referring back to nyanya hizi = these tomatoes.

In Swahili, object markers agree with the noun class of the object. Since nyanya hizi is plural here, the verb uses -zi- for them.

So:

• hatutazikata = we will not cut them

That -zi- is the them.

Yes, you could, especially if the object is already obvious from context.

But hatutazikata leo is more explicit because it clearly means:

• we will not cut them today

Without -zi-, the sentence could feel more like:

• we will not cut today
• or we will not cut [them/it] today, with the object left unstated

So the object marker helps tie the second clause directly back to the tomatoes.

Putting leo at the end is a normal, neutral way to say today in Swahili.

So:

• hatutazikata leo = we will not cut them today

Swahili word order is somewhat flexible, and leo can sometimes move for emphasis, but the version here is very natural and straightforward.

The verb kata basically means cut. In context, it can sometimes sound more natural in English as something like:

• pick
• harvest
• cut/open
• prepare

depending on what exactly people do with the tomatoes.

So the core meaning is still cut, but the best English translation may vary a little depending on the situation.