Image: COURTESY
Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has affirmed that the cost of unga is on a free fall and will cross under the Sh120 mark in the coming weeks.
The CS said Kenyans would this year celebrate Christmas affordably with the cost of their popular staple coming down drastically across the country due to enhanced yields from the farms.
Speaking when he made impromptu inspection tours for Unga prices at select supermarkets in Nairobi, Linturi said the cost of living is steadily coming down and more families are now enjoying their loved staple.
“The government’s interventions that target to subsidise production are paying off gradually and we expect the prices of Unga to come down further in the coming weeks as we head towards Christmas,” the CS said at Kawangware on Friday.
After the spot check, the CS said that the cost of a 2kg bag of the cheapest Unga was retailing at Sh130 for popular brands across major estates in Nairobi including Kawangware, Kangemi and Kibra.
“When the Kenya Kwanza government took office, the cheapest 2kg bag of Unga was selling at Sh240, but as you can see those prices have come down to between Sh130 and sh170 for the most common brands,” the CS said.
Reduction of the cost of Unga was one of President William Ruto’s pre-election campaign pledges after the prices of popular brands soared above the Sh200 mark for a 2kg bag, forcing his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta to introduce subsidies.
However, immediately after President Ruto took over power he scrapped the subsidies on Maize flour and instead decided to subsidise fertiliser as a long-term measure to lower the cost of food prices.
In the last few weeks, the cost of food prices have started to drop gradually with the government attributing the success story to subsidised cost of production that saw farmers return to farms cheaply to enhance food security.
“Food security is a key priority of the Kenya Kwanza government. We are already working closely with all our farmers on the measures we have rolled out to increase our yields so that we consolidate the food security agenda in the country,” Linturi said when he mounted an inspection tour of supermarkets in Kibra, Nairobi.
According to the CS, in the select supermarkets he visited, a 2kg bag of Simba unga was retailing at Sh130, Pembe was selling at Sh139 while Soko was selling at Sh159
Linturi said he will going forward personally lead inspection visits to various regions to ensure that retailers’ prices of Unga reflect the actual prices as guided by market forces.
