Rains and high transportation costs give Malindi consumers mixed fortunes

Malindi, Friday May 9, 2023, KNA

by Laura Wanjiku/Victor Baraka/Emmanuel Masha

The ongoing heavy rains pounding most parts of the Coast region and high transportation cost have resulted in mixed fortunes to consumers of essential products in Malindi town.

A spot check by the Kenya News Agency within the tourist resort town Thursday revealed that the prices of most vegetables, especially those that can be sourced locally, had gone down as they had become plentiful due to the abundance of rains.

However, the prices of fruits such as watermelon and pineapples as well as groceries sourced from upcountry had increased marginally as transporters had increased hire charges due to the high cost of petroleum products.

Traders interviewed at Malindi’s Kwa Jiwa Market in the central business district said the recent heavy rainfall in the region was a boon to local farmers, who have seen their crops flourish, thus increasing supply.

Agnes Mwende, a potato vendor at the Kwa Jiwa Market, expressed her delight at the increase in agricultural products resulting from the heavy rainfall.

“The rains have been a blessing to farmers, as we now have an abundance of fresh produce available, making the prices low. The price of sweet potatoes has gone down from Sh100 to Sh80 a kilogramme within one week,” she said adding that a 50kg bag cost her Sh4,600 as opposed to last week when it went for Sh7,000.

However, the high fuel prices seem to have cancelled the gains as cost of transporting consumer products from outside Malindi, chiefly from Taveta and the Mount Kenya Region, have continued to rise steadily.

The products affected include maize, beans, pineapples, and watermelons among others, whose prices have skyrocketed as transporters have increased charges to make up for the high fuel prices.

Hans Nzae, a pineapple dealer at the market, said the prices of pineapples have risen due to the rise in transport cost, which he said had gone up from Sh10,000 to Sh15,000, forcing the traders to increase the prices from Sh60 to Sh100 per piece.

He urged the government to be considerate to the common mwananchi while increasing fuel prices, which he said had a multiplier effect from the producer to the markets.

“If the transportation costs increase, it can cause prices of all goods to rise and vice versa and the government should come up with strategies that will help to bring down fuel prices,” he said.

On her part, Veronicah Wamboi, said the prices of green grams, peas, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, beans and watermelons had gone up at the wholesale market, forcing traders to pass the cost to consumers.

This, she said, had reduced the number of customers, whose purchasing power has also gone down due to the harsh economic conditions in the country.

Mohamed Abubakar, who deals in the sale of dried fish at the market said profit margins had gone down due to the high cost of transportation, a situation that has made many newcomers in the business to give up and close their stalls.

Courtesy ; K. N. A