Shoppers Worried as Unga Goes Missing from Supermarket Shelves

Most Nairobi shoppers are a worried lot as most supermarket shelves are running out of maize flour with the end of the maize subsidy programme.

In 2017, prices of grain staples skyrocketed due to the spillover effects of poor crop performance coupled with deteriorating security situation.

The looming food crisis was contained by subsidy programs introduced to manage inflation rates and assure food security.

A spot-check in a number of supermarkets across Nairobi on Monday found that most of them had depleted the subsidized flour while some had empty shelves.

Carrefour was the only one with at least five brands of maize flour on the shelves while others had less than three brands or none.

A 2 kilogram of Pembe maize flour was retailing at 108 shillings, Jogoo flour at 112 shillings, Soko Ugali at 108 shillings, Hostess at 148 shillings and Ugali Afya was the most expensive at 181 shillings.

Tuskys Imara Daima branch in Nairobi CBD, there was no maize flour, while Naivas Ronald Ngala had Pembe and Jogoo maize meal, both retailing at 113 shillings.

At the Chandarana Foodplus store in Ngara, no flour was on the shelves, while Naivas Ruaraka had Pembe brand which was being sold at 113 shillings.

At Eastmatt supermarket on Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi at 107 shillings.

Related: Dry Maize Retailing Highest in Kisumu at Ksh 3,600  and Lowest in Nakuru 

Between July and September, Kenya imported 92 percent of the region’s imports, totaling approximately 144,329 metric tons (MT). Out of these maize imports, 22, 35, and 43 percent were from Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia, respectively.

Latest data from the Regional Agricultural Intelligence Network as of January 8th, 2018, maize prices in East Africa shows that Burundi is the most expensive at 5,783 shillings followed by Kenya at 3,200 shillings, Tanzania at 1,858 shillings and Uganda has the lowest price for a 90-kilogram bag at 1,645 shillings.

Through the subsidy programme, consumers were buying the 2 kilogram packet of maize flour at 90 shillings.

Last week, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett noted that maize flour was not going to be sold over the 120-shilling mark after the end of the subsidy programme, but that is not the case.