One Thing Is For Sure: 2022 Is Already Costing You

Between inflation and ongoing supply chain issues, prices are rising on consumer goods nearly across the board.

According to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) food prices rose by 8.89 percent in January making it hard for thousands of Kenyans to put food on the table.

A two-kilogram packet of maize is now retailing at Sh120 while a kilo of sugar goes at Sh140 across major supermarkets in the country. Cooking gas, cooking oil and bread have also risen by a significant margin.

Going to the grocery store is going to start eating away at your budget very quickly in Kenya. It does not just staple like eggs, meat, milk, and sugar that are getting more expensive; drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are also rising rapidly.

Now here is a case where the prices of essential commodities are rising every month yet the income is the same. Sometimes, even smaller than the amount needed to buy the essentials for a family.

Kenyans have now taken to social media platforms to complain and plead with the government to lower the food prices that are throwing so many families into hunger.

Many are now calling for a reduction in food prices and the implementation of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive on electricity tariffs, which will see a decline in electricity costs.

The KNBS review indicated that the CPI increased by 0.31 percent from an index of 118.274 in December 2021 to 118.642 in January 2022.

The month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 1.07 percent between December 2021 and January 2022.

Despite declining inflation rates in Kenya, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2022 World Economic Outlook forecasts tough times for developing and emerging economies.

The lender warned that the steep rise in fuel and gas prices will push inflation to levels last witnessed during the global recession in 2008.

The East Africa seasonal monitor released on December 20 by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) — a USAID platform providing early warning and analysis on food insecurity — showed that rainfall deficits were recorded over much of Uganda, eastern Rwanda, and Kenya, eroding crops and livestock production prospects.

However, it is Kenya that is most at risk, with Fews Net estimating that three to four million people need emergency food assistance.

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