Nairobi Food Prices Set to Soar as Traders Blame Fuel Hike for Supply Chain Crisis
Shoppers in Nairobi may soon dig deeper into their pockets for basic food items after traders raised alarm over rapidly rising transport costs triggered by the latest fuel price hike.
Traders operating at Wakulima Market, one of the capital’s busiest wholesale food markets, warned on Saturday that the cost of transporting produce into the city had become unbearable, forcing many businesses to consider increasing prices to stay afloat.
The warning comes just days after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced a sharp increase in fuel prices, with petrol rising by Ksh16.65 per litre and diesel surging by Ksh46.29 per litre, while kerosene prices remained unchanged.
For traders dealing in tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and cabbage, the impact has been immediate and severe.
According to several wholesalers, transporters are now spending nearly Ksh10,000 more per trip compared to previous months — an added expense they say consumers will inevitably feel at the market stalls.
“We cannot absorb these costs any longer,” one trader lamented. “The transport charges have gone too high, and eventually customers will have to pay more for food.”
The traders further revealed that produce that once sold within a day or two is now taking up to a week before finding buyers, exposing what many described as declining purchasing power among ordinary Kenyans already struggling with the high cost of living.
Transporters, on the other hand, blamed the worsening situation squarely on the spike in diesel prices, arguing that the increase has dramatically pushed up operating expenses for trucks ferrying food produce from farming regions to urban centres.
Diesel remains the primary fuel powering the heavy commercial vehicles transporting vegetables and other essential commodities across the country, making the latest hike particularly painful for distributors.
“For now, my vehicle takes up 100 litres. That costs over Ksh20,000. To come to Njoro it costs even more, so we will have to hike the prices to make the business sustainable,” one driver explained.
Besides fuel expenses, traders complained about mounting county levies, parking charges, and operational fees that continue to eat into already shrinking profit margins, with some small-scale businesses now fearing collapse.
A spot check established that the price of a bucket of potatoes has already jumped from Ksh700 to Ksh800 in some markets due to increased logistics costs, despite many customers remaining reluctant to buy at the new prices.
Tomato and onion traders also warned that consumers could soon face an additional Ksh20 increase per kilogram if fuel prices continue rising in the coming weeks.
The concerns come amid growing tension in the transport sector ahead of a planned nationwide strike on Monday, May 18, by stakeholders protesting the latest fuel price adjustments.
Analysts now fear the demonstrations could further disrupt the supply chain and worsen food shortages in major towns if the standoff between transporters and the government escalates.
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