Why the current food prices crisis is man made

Ugali (photo courtesy)

The high cost of staple foods – maize flour, milk, potatoes and most green vegetables – has hit family budgets hard in the past few months, particularly low income families who already spend half or more of their income on food.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the cost of food increased by almost 21 per cent in April, on account of poor rains towards at the end of last year. The last time food prices spiked this dramatically in Kenya was nearly six years ago, in 2011 when food price inflation reached an all time high of 26.2 per cent.