Why Cooking Oil Prices Have Been Rapidly Increasing

Currently, cooking oil has become a luxury commodity to the many broke and struggling Kenyans as a liter (depending on the brand) goes for over 300 shillings up from 160 shillings registered in 2020.

The price of 2 liters of Fresh Fri, for instance, has risen to over 640 shillings in most supermarkets in the country. The increase in these prices has been attributed to a surge in the price of palm oil in 2020.

“The increase in the price of crude palm oil in the global market has reduced local manufacturers’ competitiveness, thus eating into their local and global markets. It has also increased the cost of living for Mwananchi, especially because edible oils are a household necessity,”  an official from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) said in response to the surging prices.

While it is not the only commodity whose price has increased, it has caused panic across the country with many Kenyans wondering how far the prices will get.

The worst part is that some cannot fathom the cause of the increase in prices. Others believe that growing the plant domestically would bring the prices down and ease the cost of living for Kenyans. This notion isn’t far-fetched.

As one Twitter fan page for the financial guru, Ephraim Njega puts, there is an agency in government called Nuts and Oil Crops Directorate who are supposed to develop the oil crops value chains in Kenya. But what are they doing to ease the current situation?

WHY COOKING OIL PRICES ARE RISING RAPIDLY.

There is an agency in government called Nuts and oil crops Directorate. These people are supposed to develop the oil crops value chains. What do they do?

— ephraimnjegafan (@ephraimnjegafan) March 12, 2022

In a series of Twitter posts, ephraimnjegafans pours down what every other Kenyan thinks. That the country can grow many oil crops including palm oil trees and sunflower.

“We shouldn’t be relying almost wholly on imports. Sadly, we pay so many people in government without any productivity,” a tweet read.

The page goes ahead to add that the palm oil from which most of our cooking oil is produced comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. The two countries account for close to 90 percent of the world’s output.

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Ukraine and Russia are the leading producers of sunflower oil accounting for 70 percent of global production.

That being the case, there is a shortage of sunflower oil resulting from the war between the two countries.

“The concentration of output in a few countries creates massive risks. The production of palm oil in Asian countries was constrained by the pandemic. Now we have two other major producers engaged in war,” ehpraimnjegafans noted.

Sadly, the prices of cooking oil will continue rising under such circumstances. And as the Twitter user emphasizes, Kenya’s policymakers should think hard about how the country can raise domestic cooking oil production.

“Since global factors are to blame for the current spike in prices, the government is also to blame. We have enough land and an excellent climate. We should be exporting cooking oil. This requires clear policies and deliberate government intervention,” concludes the posts.

Of course, there are challenges to adopting such policies and increasing oil production in Kenya, but the truth is, with the right measures, support, and willingness, we can eliminate minor inefficiencies that cause prices of household commodities to increase.