New headache for State as food prices hit the roof

A trader displays her rice her green grocer in Embu food market on October 6, 2016. The fertile and rain abundant upper part of Embu County produces most of the fresh farm produce sold at the market. BY JOSEPH MUCHIRI/STANDARD

Policymakers are staring at the tough task of saving Kenyans from the cost of living after food prices hit a nine-month high.

The latest figures released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) put food inflation at 16.5 per cent, the highest since 2012.