Prices of commodities have shot up in the country with potato prices not being an exception as the commodity’s demand continues to rise.
Potato prices in Nairobi are costing almost a double of what they were selling at two months ago with the 10-liter bucket that traded at 350 shillings now selling at 600 shillings.
A kilogram of potatoes is currently 85 shillings at 29th August 2018 in Nairobi.
In Eldoret, a kilogram of potato is selling at 100 shillings in Eldoret which translates to 2500 shillings per 25 kilograms and 5000 shillings per 50 kilograms compared to Nairobi’s 4250 shillings per 50 kilograms.
Middlemen have been accused of worsening an already dire situation where farmers have regularly complained of limited access to certified seeds of the product.
Insufficient supply of potato seeds causes limited production which results to unquenched demand of the product in the market leading to a hike of prices termed as demand-pull inflation.
Fuel prices tend to affect every aspect of the market and it has been seen to have directly affected prices of potato as transportation prices rise to the current fuel inflation.
The anxiously anticipated budget implementation could only worsen the market situation.