Nairobi News spot check: Unga ya Ugali prices reduce
By Winnie MabelThe cost of Ugali, the Kenyan staple food prepared using maize flour, has gone down.
A spot check by Nairobi News on November 8, 2023, found that the price of popular brands producing maize meal flour, popularly known as Unga, had gone down by an average of Sh 45 in the past month.
A two kilogram packet of Oryx cost Sh186 while Pembe retailed at Sh149.
Ndovu brand, meanwhile retailed at Sh168 while Soko, one of the most popular brands sold for Sh149 at most supermarkets.
Jogoo maize flour, another popular brand, retailed a Sh 176 while 210 sifted maize meal retailed for Sh 172. The Mama brand sold for Sh 157 as Ndovu retailed at Sh 163.
The spot check indicates the prices had fallen by between Sh 30 and Sh 60 for the majority of the brands.
These prices are still significantly lower than the Sh120-140 a 2kg packet of Unga was retailing at in August 2022.
The fall in prices can be attributed to the recent harvesting season in which farmers harvested an estimated 44 million bags of maize, according to government statistics.
This was an increase from the 32 million bags harvested last season. The government says Kenyans consume 60 million bags of maize each year.
Following this recent harvest, President William Ruto announced the government would purchase a 90 kilogram of maize at Sh 4000 but farmers asked the Head of State to buy their produce at Sh 5000 a bag, citing increased production costs and especially the price of fuel.
As earlier stated, Ugali is the staple food of Kenya and any price interference with this meal often leads to widespread condemnation.
Following the 2023 election, opposition-led demonstrations, among other things, fought for a decrease in the cost of maize meal flour.
Thousands flooded streets around Kenyan counties in support of the demonstration as they demanded the cost be brought down to Sh 100.
The government, at the time, only managed to regulate the price to between Sh 200 and Sh 250 for two weeks and the prices shot up again to historic highs. As criticism mounted, to address the cost and shortages in retail supermarkets, the Kenya Kwanza government decided to import maize from Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia- some of it duty-free.
However, in October 2023, President Ruto banned the importation of maize and wheat as a measure to protect local farmers following the uproar over the importation of maize.
He banned the permits given to millers to import maize and urged farmers to sell their produce to the National Cereals and Produce Boards instead of selling it at throw-away prices.
He then promised Kenyans that the price of maize meal flour would fall to about Sh 175 for a two-kilogram packet.
“We are expecting a significant reduction of maize prices this week and also a decrease of unga prices. Maize prices are slowly decreasing from Sh6,000 per 90kg bag last week to about Sh5,000 this week. This decrease will soon be reflected in unga prices on the shelves. Some millers have reduced unga prices from Sh220 to Sh175,” said President Ruto.
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