Vegetable prices surge in Kenya after heavy rainfall

A vegetable shortage has hit parts of Tharaka Nithi County pushing up prices. In Chuka town, which is the county's main commercial centre, wholesalers from the neighbouring Embu and Meru counties are selling a kilogramme of sukuma wiki at Sh50 up from Sh15 last month. The retailers are in turn selling to consumers at Sh20, the few leaves that they initially sold for Sh10. Last weekend, Chuka town residents searched in vain for sukuma wiki forcing them to settle for cabbages, which are also scarce and expensive. The price of a kilogramme of spinach has also increased from Sh30 to Sh50 while that of tomatoes has doubled from Sh50 to Sh100 in the last few weeks. Mrs Stella Fredrick, a trader in Chuka town, told nation.africa that they are hesitant to buy the little available vegetables because their customers are complaining of the increased prices. "Our business has deteriorated because of the acute shortage of vegetables, which has run for some weeks now and which is likely to ...