Rains fail to tame escalating prices of essential food items

Doris Awino sorts out her tomato harvest I Kisumu County. The price of tomatoes has risen from Sh2,000 per crate to Sh2,800. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Do not expect reduced food prices soon even as many parts of the country continue to receive adequate rains as per the weatherman’s predictions.

A survey by Financial Standard revealed that prices of the majority of foodstuffs have been increasing with the intensity of the rains while some are likely to increase in the next few weeks.

Experts and traders have also predicted the same phenomenon, noting that they will be forced to recoup their expected losses by adding some few coins on their normal prices.

While the price of maize flour is still stable at Sh90, a visit to Wakulima Market by Financial Standard confirmed that prices of onions, tomatoes, potatoes (mainly Irish famously known as waru), vegetables and some fruits have increased almost 50 per cent.

And this is not because the foods are not in plenty. The addition is due to increased costs wholesalers and traders have to meet to get them from the source to the market.

“Transport and manpower is our biggest issue. With these rains, you cannot pay labourers the normal Sh300 or Sh500 a day to harvest potatoes. Sometimes they will just fail to show up,” said Thomas Mogaka, a trader in Irish potatoes which he ferries from Molo.

He confirmed that before the rains, a sack was going at a wholesale price of Sh2,500 but due to the rains, the price has gone up to Sh3,000.

He added that in Molo, the potatoes are planted on the slopes, which means getting a truck there is hectic. “Imagine paying workers and then part with some more money to have other people pull the truck when it gets stuck? Do not forget we have to ensure that the potatoes are not rained or they will rot fast and no one will buy them,” said Mogaka.

It was also witnessed that the predicaments of Mogaka have trickled down to small-scale traders who now have been forced to package potatoes in small packets of Sh40 since the ones for Sh50 are not selling as fast. It is the same case with Alfred Omondi who deals with onions. The prices, he said, have gone up to Sh2,000 from last month’s Sh1,700 a bundle.

Traders are also having to part with more for transport on top of dealing with the headache of how to dry the onions because of the wet weather conditions. In several estates in the city, there is either a shortage of tomatoes and onions and where they are available, the prices are beyond the reach of many residents.

For example in Eastleigh and its environs, while it is normal to buy a tomato for Sh5, the price is now Sh20 for three tomatoes.

This makes it uneconomical for poor households.

It is the same case for Coriander (dhania), which now goes for Sh7 a bunch, up from Sh5 previously.

While the prices of sukuma wiki (kales) and spinach have remained the same, the quantity has reduced drastically. This has made many to turn to cabbage. George Mbakaya, an agricultural consultant explained that heavy rains are both a blessing and a curse to those in agribusiness.

Alternative crops

“Crops like tomatoes are most likely to be affected. They usually thrive during the dry spell, so most farmers avoid planting them during the rainy season. Another example is the watermelon that thrives in moderate rains,” he said.

Mbakaya explained that vegetables and fruits also become more susceptible to fungal infections during the rainy season.

This, he said, is because the extreme rains cause leaching, which drains the necessary nutrients from the plants, leaving them to turn yellow.

He, however, noted that farmers could maximise their profits by concentrating on crops that thrive in heavy rains such as bananas.

Higher electricity cost and a rise in pump prices of petrol and diesel have pushed transport costs up.

The inflation rate in the country averaged 10.16 per cent from 2005 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 31.50 per cent in May 2008 and a record low of 3.18 per cent in October 2010.

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