Families dig into their savings as hunger takes toll on poor Kenyans
The country faces a crisis occasioned by dwindling rainfall and stocks of food, pushing prices beyond the ability of many.
Low income earners in rural Kenya and town slums are the worst hit.
Significantly, the poor food forecast is compounded by the weatherman’s projections that most parts of the country will continue experiencing hot and dry conditions.
HIGH PRICES
When they come, the rains are expected to be subdued, hurting the planting season in food producing areas of north and central Rift Valley as well as western Kenya.
Our teams came face to face with food scarcity, high prices and failed crops. Many now dig deeper into their savings or sell their assets to get food.
Mr Joseph Mutinda, a second-hand electronics dealer at Quarry Market in Nairobi is one such Kenyan.
From early in the year, Mr Mutinda and his family have cut down on milk, fruits and other essentials.
The trader says he is aware of the malnutrition risk his three children face.
Acknowledging the challenge, President Uhuru Kenyatta has promised to reform the country’s maize and sugar production.
“I expect the task forces formed will propose bold and transformative interventions to revive and sustainably grow these important sub-sectors,” he said during the State of the Nation address on Thursday afternoon.
DECLINE
The United States Department of Agriculture has projected a 12 per cent decline in maize production, dampening hopes of the hunger crisis ending soon.
The department also forecast a drop in the production of wheat and rice, a situation it attributes to reduced acreage under cultivation.
The report does not include the ongoing drought, meaning the true picture on the ground could be worse.
An acute shortage of sorghum, millet, beans and potatoes has hit most parts of the western Kenya, pushing their cost beyond the reach of many a family.
These foods usually supplement maize, whose prices have increased from Sh80 to Sh110 per 2kg packet.
DROUGHT
Prices have shot just when the school first term is ending, meaning families will spend more on food.
The unrelenting drought has seen the demand for basic commodities like vegetables, tomatoes, onions and fruits far outstrip supply.
Sorghum, a dryland cereal, now goes for an average of Sh6,200 for a 90kg bag, up from Sh5,400 just weeks ago.
A 90kg bag of finger millet sells at Sh4,200, up from Sh5,800 while the same amount of beans which was Sh8,800 now goes for Sh10,200.
To get an 90kg bag of oranges, one has to fork out Sh4,200 yet it was just Sh1,800 weeks ago. A crate of spring onions now sells for Sh2,200 from Sh1,400.
“Onions, fruits and some vegetables are becoming luxuries in some households,” Ms Jane Chematia from Ainabtich in Uasin Gishu County told the Saturday Nation.
MILK PRICES
Dairy farmers have also been hit hard by the drought, with the cost of feeds rising sharply even as milk production falls.
Consumers have to bear the brunt of high milk prices. The cost of a litre milk has gone up to Sh60 from Sh48 in many regions.
In Nandi County, a bale of hay that usually goes for Sh100 is now Sh250.
At Kongowea market in Mombasa, the prices of sukumawiki, cabbages and amaranth (mchicha) have shot up exponentially.
Kongowea Traders Association official Peter Nyaga said prices have more than doubled because the vegetables come from Tanzania and central Kenya.
“Only two lorries with loaded sukuma wiki and one with spinach arrive at the market per day, compared to more than six during the rainy season. This has never happened before. The quality of the vegetables is bad,” Mr Nyaga said.
Mr John Baya says he no longer sells sukuma wiki and spinach.
CABBAGES
“Two leaves of sukuma wiki or spinach go for Sh20. Very few people will be willing to buy that so I stock mchicha and cabbages,” he said.
At Gakoromone, the largest open-air market in Meru County, a few shrivelled fruits on sale at unusually high prices yesterday.
A pineapple was going for Sh100, twice the ordinary price. A mango sold for Sh50, up from Sh10, with a kilogramme of tomatoes retailing at Sh100, up from Sh50 last month.
“The fruits can remain in the stalls for three days,” Mr Japhet Mwenda, a trader, told the Saturday Nation.
It was a familiar story in Kirinyaga and Embu counties, where maize and beans were wiped out by the drought, termed by locals as the worst in a decade.
CHEAP MEAT
Mbeere South MP Geoffrey King’ang’i said 100,000 of his constituents are in dire need of food aid after “thousands of acres of maize and beans were destroyed yet many people have little or no cash”.
Potato prices in Bomet and Kericho counties have sharply risen in the last two months, with a 100kg bag retailing at Sh4,500 when it sold for Sh2,300 in February.
In Kakamega and Vihiga, prices of vegetables, onions and tomatoes have gone up. In Mumias town, for example, a crate of tomatoes is going for Sh10,000 from Sh5,500 just two months ago. A bunch of onions is Sh50, up from Sh20.
Ms Rukiá Ashembi's family in Matawa, Mumias West Sub-County, rarely uses vegetables these days.
FISH
“We eat greens once in a while. Vegetables have become more expensive than fish and meat. A quarter kilogramme of meat goes for Sh70 and this is sufficient for my three children. Vegetables for the same amount would not be enough,” she says.
Residents of Vihiga now get their vegetables, fruits, tomatoes and onions from neighbouring Nandi County.
At Nakuru’s Wakulima market, sukuma wiki, spinach, onions and tomatoes are in high demand.
According to Ms Winfrida Onsakia, a trader, one grade 1 tomato retails for Sh10 from Sh5.
Ms Herodius Chepkoech, another vendor, sells three small onions for Sh10, medium (Sh5 a piece) and Sh10 for a big one.
ORANGES
One big cabbage retails for Sh60 from Sh20 while four oranges go for Sh20. Three small avocados now go for Sh20, the price of four just two weeks ago.
Kisii, which ordinarily knows no dry season, has seen prices shoot up too. A bag of Irish potatoes retails at Sh6,500 from Sh3,500 while sweet potatoes which sold for Sh2,000 now go for Sh3,000.
Traders import sweet potatoes from Tanzania while a 90kg sack of black nightshade (managu) has shot to Sh4,000 from Sh2,000.
In Chuka, Tharaka-Nithi County, greengrocers used to get a kilo of sukumawiki at Sh20 but the price has gone up to Sh50. They sell three leaves for Sh10.
A kilo of spinach, much of which is brought in from Embu and Kirinyaga, was Sh20 but now goes for Sh60.
SCARCITY
This has made many families resort to cabbage, which sells for Sh70, instead of Sh30 a piece.
A kilo of tomatoes is Sh100, twice what it sold before.
Mr Nicholas Maina, a Chogoria hotel owner, has stopped serving vegetables because of the scarcity.
Experts say climate change and urbanisation should be of little consequence if the country’s agricultural policies are sound.
Reports by Winni Lelei, Barnabas Bii, Anthony Kitimo, Gitonga Marete, George Munene, Vitalis Kimutai, Derrick Luvega, Shaban Makokha, Kevin Rotich, Alex Njeru and Benson Ayienda.
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