No Reprieve for Consumers As Food Prices Maintain An All Time High

By Amina Faki

The country is currently facing tough economic times, with the prices of basic commodities especially that of the food basket skyrocketing.

Kenya’s annual inflation rate accelerated to its highest level in almost five years as an ongoing drought compounds price pressures.

Consumer prices in Kenya jumped 11.70 percent year-on-year in May of 2017, accelerating from 11.48 percent increase in the previous month. The inflation rate remained the highest since May 2012, mainly driven by rising prices of food, due to last year’s severe drought and the infestation of the fall armyworm which destroyed agricultural crops.

The cost of food in Kenya increased 21.52 percent in May of 2017 over the same month in the previous year. Food Inflation in Kenya averaged 11.19 percent from 2010 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 26.20 percent in October of 2011 and a record low of 1.44 percent in October of 2012

Below is a table that gives a breakdown of commodity market prices in major cities in the country:

With the ever rising cost of living and the adverse effects of drought and the infestation of the fall armyworm, Kenyans continue to feel the economic pinch which takes more out of their pockets than they can save.