The prices of most food commodities showed downward trend in August against previous periods.
This is according to the Food Security Monitoring report that was released by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
The report showed that compared to July, the prices of most commodities declined in August except for njahi (dolichos lablab), red and white Irish potatoes and red sorghum.
The report indicated that as at August this year, a 90kg bag of dry maize was selling at an average wholesale price of Sh4,800, this is a decrease of 15 per cent in the previous one to three months.
A 90kg bag of yellow beans was selling at Sh14,500 and has been decreasing by between Sh3 to Sh10 per kilo.
The price of dolichos lablab (njahi) has not changed since July and was selling at Sh15,250 per 90kg bag.
Food commodities that showed a drop in prices as at August include finger millet which was selling at Sh8,625, rice at Sh5,800 and white sorghum at Sh5,250 per 90kg bag each.
Those that had increased or not changed in prices are red sorghum which was selling at Sh6,690, and white and red Irish potato at Sh2,160 and Sh3,900 respectively.
The AGRA report noted that in East Africa, food and fuel prices remain high, and continue to limit the access to food among low-income households.
On food trade, the food security monitoring report showed that the move by Tanzania to stop issuing export permits for food products headed to Kenya and Uganda has led to a significant drop in market prices for farmers in the country.
However, commodity prices in Kenya and Uganda have been declining while in Ethiopia food commodities prices remain high.
The FAO Food Price Index showed a decline by 2.1 per cent in August.
This is driven by reductions in the price indices of dairy products at four per cent, vegetable oils at 3.1 per cent, meat at three per cent, and cereals at 0.7 per cent.
The sugar price index, however, increased moderately by 1.3 per cent.
FAO showed that these trends are reflective of higher seasonal availabilities from ongoing harvests in many major exporting countries.
“The Government of Kenya is expected to set minimum price for maize as harvest season begins with prices expected to further decrease in the coming months against the expected bumper harvests. This is attributed to the increased use of subsidised fertiliser, and an increase in area under cultivation by eight per cent,” the report said.
The report further showed that poor temporal rainfall distribution in Kenya resulted in below-average crop production in the southeastern marginal agricultural livelihood zones.
“Household food stocks are expected to be depleted by early September heightening the demand for market dependency for food supplies,” the report stated.
As of August 31,57.2 million people across six selected East African countries did not have enough food for consumption. The same number was recorded in the previous month suggesting that the food security situation across the monitored countries did not change.
However, there were variations at country level, with Kenya and Rwanda recording increases while South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda had decreases, and Ethiopia remained stable.
The number of food insecure people in the region was, however, lower in August 2023, than the same time last year at 59.6million and higher than in 2021 at 61.8 million.
The report further indicated that despite many households recovering from the historic drought and high food prices due to harvests from the long rains, drought outcomes persist in many parts of the country.