High prices lead Kenyans to forgo eating vegetables

Prices of vegetables have drastically increased recently in Kenya, with some doubling in price. A re…

Prices of vegetables have drastically increased recently in Kenya, with some doubling in price. A recent survey on the effects of the price increases have found that the high prices are leading some families to avoid vegetables completely.

In the last 12 months, the cost of Kenya’s favourite vegetables, kales, cabbage and spinach have risen by between 10 and 50 percent.

Of the three, however, it is cabbages whose cost has increased the most, rising by 50 percent last month, as compared to a similar period in 2016, according to latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) received Wednesday.

“I used to like cabbages and traditional vegetables but right now I cannot afford them because of the prices. I have to rely on sukuma wiki, which is still expensive though. Sometimes, however, I have to forgo vegetables and feed my family of five omena (small fish) alone,” said Tony Muhati, a stone-mason in Nairobi.

The high prices have been blamed on the ongoing dry spell in different parts of Kenya, which has greatly disrupted supply. The costly vegetables contributed hugely to the rise in inflation in January.

“Between December 2016 and January, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Drinks’ Index increased by 1.66 per cent. This was mainly attributed to increases in prices of cabbages, spinach and sukuma wiki which were partly contributed to by prevailing drought conditions,” said KNBS.

Bernard Moina, an agricultural officer in western Kenya, noted that with the ongoing drought, prices of vegetables are set to continue rising as many farmers rely on rains.

“Right now some farmers have stopped growing vegetables or reduced production because there is no rain. Besides traditional vegetables, some which grow on their own when the rains are there, cannot increase supply due to drought.” Enditem said.