The recent increase in the cost of fuel has hit Kenyans badly. In Kitui County, residents are now bemoaning the high cost of living owing to consequential price increases in basic food commodities at the local markets.
A spot check by the Kenya News Agency (KNA) on the prices at some of the local food commodity outlets in Kitui County has revealed that prices of basic food commodities have surged sharply barely weeks after.
Kenya News Agency crew visited a cross-section of local markets, including Kalundu Market in Kitui Town, where a bunch of spinach and kales that was selling for Sh20 earlier last month is now retailing at Sh30, while the cost of tomatoes has risen from Sh80 to Sh120 per kilo.
A vegetable vendor at the busy Kalundu market, Franciscah Mwende, told the team that suppliers of vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and cabbage, and also sukuma-wiki, have increased the prices in the past few weeks, hence prompting the local vendors to also increase their prices for leverage.
She explained that many customers are now buying fewer vegetables because they can no longer afford the high prices. She added that the price of onions has risen from 90 shillings per kilo to 120 shillings, causing a decrease in supply.
Prices of fruits, including watermelon, pawpaws, and avocados, have also increased. “A watermelon that sold for Sh200 last month is now going for Sh320 to Sh350. Avocados and paw paws have also gone up by about Sh100 each,” said Ms. Winfred Katindi, a fruit vendor at Kalundu Market.
Ms. Katindi blamed the price increase of basic food commodities on the recent increase of fuel costs. She noted that most of her fruits are sourced from neighboring counties.
“The price of fuel is high, and since the food commodities are transported at a high cost into the Kalundu Market, we are experiencing supply shortages. The majority of our suppliers have ceased supplying, hence forcing us to source locally where currently not available in large quantities,” she added.
Despite relief from ongoing high farm yields of basic cereals produced by local farmers following the successful March-May rain season in Kitui County, the prices of the locally produced cereals have similarly shot up.
Yellow beans are now retailing at Sh160 per kilogram, up from the Sh150 price tag before the increase in fuel costs mid last month.
Other cereal prices, including pulses like green grams, have increased to Sh150 per kilogram, up from the previous price tag of Sh120, while the cost of one kilogram of maize is currently selling at Sh55, up from Sh45.
According to Mary Maise, a cereal trader at Kalundu Market in Kitui, business has become difficult due to the increase of fuel prices across the country.
“The rise in fuel has had a significant effect on the prices of common food commodities, not just in Kitui but also across the country. Consequently, this has led to the increased cost of living among Kenyans,” she lamented.
Maise, while speaking to the Kenya News Agency, regretted that if the fuel prices continue to rise, she risks losing her customers and may be forced to close down her business.
The rise in food commodity prices at Kalundu mirrors a wider trend across the Kitui County and the country at large, where households are adjusting budgets to cope with higher costs of basic food stuff.
The situation also reflects the broader economic challenges facing majority of Kenyans owing to the increase of fuel prices.
By James Mumo and Hope Mwanzia
