High vegetable prices rock dinner budgets

Jane Mosoti, a vegetable trader at Kisii County market attends to her supplies. Recent drought experienced across the country has pushed up prices for vegetable.     [ PHOTO BY STANDARD]

Kenya: A spike on the price of tomatoes, cabbages and potatoes following delayed rains has steadily added pain to household budgets, as shown by fresh official data.

End-of-month numbers released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reaffirmed the latest trends in the rising cost of living with as little as three leaves of Sukuma Wiki retailing at Sh5 in grocery kiosks across several neighbourhoods in Nairobi.

KNBS said in its statement yesterday that inflation rose to 6.31 per cent year-on-year in March from 5.61 per cent in the previous month.

“This was mainly attributed to increases in the cost of vegetables, milk and other food products. The rise in prices was mainly as a result of the dry weather conditions experienced during the period,” indicated KNBS release.

A sustained drought since November last year has seen cabbage and potato prices shoot up by 19 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively, in March compared to prices recorded in February.

It is only last week that various parts of the country received some rainfall, a factor that could reverse the rise in the price of basic foods, specifically vegetables. Consumers are paying an average of Sh44.38 per kilo of cabbages, whose prices have recorded the highest jump, up from Sh37.29 recorded in February.

Researchers from the agency have previously said such a sharp rise in the price of basic foodstuff tends to hurt lower income households harder, owing to the fact that food accounts for the bulk of their budget spends. Smaller purchasing power also means that the poor households are only able to purchase in small quantities, therefore not able to save on discounts offered on quantity buys.

dry foodstuffs

A reduction in the prices of dry foodstuff, including sugar, maize flour and electricity helped cushion consumers from the spike in vegetable costs. But the effects of the drought went beyond vegetables, when milk processors- in competing for raw milk from farmers increased the farm-gate prices and passed on the additional cost to the consumers. At the beginning of March for instance, Brookside increased the farm-gate prices paid to suppliers to Sh40 per kilo, the highest in the industry, up from Sh38. John Gethi, Brookside’s General Manager, said the new prices would help farmers make up for depressed milk production volumes across the country as the drought bit.

That increase, which was replicated across other milk processing firms resulted in consumers paying about Sh7 more for a 500-ml pint at the retail market.

Fares on several routes dipped marginally, KNBS reported, following significant reduction in the cost of diesel and petrol in the applicable prices between February 15 to March 14.