Traders now raise fears of higher food prices as floods wreak havoc

Traders selling fresh produce in Kisii town on April 14, 2024. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

The cost of food items is projected to rise as traders reveal they are already reeling from the devastating effects of the floods that are now eating into their profits and cash reserves. 

The spike in prices is attributed to the destruction of roads, which has caused an artificial shortage of some items transported to the city increasing their prices. 

Additionally, farmers who deal in grains are already counting losses as some of their farms and sprouting crops have been washed away by the rains. This could see higher food inflation even after the market regulators led by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) managed to bring down inflation within the government range. 

In April, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reported 5.0 per cent as the latest inflation figure down from 5.7 per cent in March and 6.3 per cent in February. 

However, in the breakdown by KNBS, prices of some food items went up, signifying the effects of the rains which became intense in April. 

Alfred Momanyi, a trader who deals with fast-moving consumer goods among them rice and maize flour said he has already been informed by his suppliers that soon, prices of key household commodities will go.

“We are selling a two kilogramme of maize flour now at Sh120 but this is not for long. From the information I have received, farms have been washed away and that is a loss even before one harvests,” he says. 

“This same two-kilogramme packet may soon retail at Sh180 or Sh200.” The drop in the cost of maize flour is one of the boasting affirmations the President William Ruto-led administration has used to signify the drop in the cost of living.

During the Labour Day celebration, President Ruto detailed how his administration ensured the price of maize flour was reduced from Sh230 when he took office in September 2022.

 Bags of maize

The President also recently revealed that in 2023, the country harvested 61 million bags of maize compared to 40 million in 2022.

In the KNBS April inflation data, the price of a kilogram (kg)of loose maize grain stood at Sh62.98 compared to Sh65.31 in March while a two-kilogramme packet of fortified maize flour dropped to Sh159.01 from Sh163.94.

In April 2023, the price of a two-kilo packet of fortified maize flour was Sh209.29 according to the KNBS data. There are some items however whose prices went up, particularly those sold in their raw form like tomatoes.

A kilo costs Sh91.25, up from Sh87.52. For Irish potatoes (a kilo) went up to Sh111.82 from Sh109.74 and onions (leeks and bulbs) continued to rise hitting Sh177.02 a kilo from Sh167.28.

“We now sell a gorogoro (2kg tin) of Irish potatoes at Sh250. But we also sell in smaller quantities like Sh100, Sh150 and Sh200. The Sh250 one used to be Sh200,” says Michael Karanja, who operates from Wakulima Market.

The cost of these rains has also affected Mercy Hamisi, a mama mboga in Ongata Rongai. Apart from groceries, she also sells charcoal. She says a tin that used to cost Sh100 now goes for Sh150.

“A sack of charcoal now costs Sh4,000 from Sh2,800. And you have to fight for that one sack even pay in advance before,” she says.

Stears, a market intelligence firm, has also raised concern over a possible spike in food prices as a result of floods in Kenya.