By Esther Murigi
The price of onions in Nairobi’s Githurai market has nearly doubled in less than a year, leaving small-scale vendors struggling to stay floating and consumers tightening their belts.
In Githurai 45, 38-year-old Margaret Wairimu sorts through a heap of red onions at her makeshift stall. She has been in the onion business for nine years, and she says 2025 has been the most unpredictable yet.
According to Wairimu, in 2024, she used to buy a sack of onions for KSh 3,500, but today the same sack goes for KSh 6,800, shaking her head. Customers don’t want to hear that they still expect to buy three onions for KSh 20.
Wairimu sources her onions from Wakulima Market three times a week, waking up at 4:00 a.m. to catch an early lorry from Kahawa Wendani. Transport now costs her KSh 400 per trip, up from KSh 250 last year, and she pays KSh 100 daily in county council fees. By evening, after selling about 60 kilograms, she takes home barely KSh 300 to KSh 400 in profit.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the retail price of onions in Nairobi rose by 41 percent between January and September 2025. A kilogram that cost KSh 100 in early 2024 now sells for between KSh 145 and KSh 160, depending on supply.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the sharp increase is linked to poor rainfall in Taita Taveta, one of Kenya’s main onion-producing regions, and reduced imports from Tanzania, where farmers also faced drought conditions. Traders say the ripple effect is being felt across markets from Githurai to Kawangware, Kasarani, and Kikuyu.
James Mwangi, a wholesaler in Githurai, says that they used to get two lorries from Tanzania every week. Now they only get one every two weeks, and the price per sack has gone up by more than KSh 2,000.
For small traders like Wairimu, the rising costs have left little room for profit. She recalls that in 2023, she could earn KSh 1,500 to 2,000 per day on a good day. Now, even after working from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., she rarely makes more than KSh 700 in gross sales.
To stay in business, Wairimu and other traders have formed a small chama — a savings group of ten women who contribute KSh 200 per week. The pooled funds help members buy stock in bulk and cushion each other during slow weeks.
Wairimu says the chama has kept her alive. When prices go up suddenly, they combine their savings to buy one big sack and share it.
Still, many fear the situation may worsen before it improves. Transporters warn that if fuel prices rise further, supply costs will continue to climb. Government data shows that petrol prices in Nairobi have risen from KSh 193 per liter in October 2024 to KSh 212 in October 2025, a 10 percent increase.
Despite the hardships, the Githurai market remains one of Nairobi’s busiest trading hubs. An estimated 500 vendors operate there daily, selling onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and other fresh produce to thousands of commuters.
Onion buyers, however, are feeling the pinch. David Otieno resident of Githurai 44, says that Last year he could get a week’s supply for KSh 150 same amount costs almost KSh 250. Now they have started using fewer onions in their meals.
Still, traders like Wairimu refuse to give up. As dusk settles over the flyover, she packs her remaining onions into a sack, ready to return home tired but hopeful.
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The Author is Esther Murigi certified Broadcast Journalist