Cost of living: Consumption of sugar and milk drops by huge margin
An attendant arranges packets of sugar on shelves in a supermarket in Elburgon Town, Nakuru County on August 02, 2023.
Sugar consumption in Kenya dropped by 42 per cent between January and June, a reflection of households forgoing or cutting down on the use of the sweetener.
At the same time, January and May recorded lowest levels of milk consumption in the last three years.
Maize and wheat imports also dropped by 36 and 20 per cent respectively, comparing the half year periods of 2023 and last year.
This is despite the poor production of the two crops last year and points to the toll the high cost of living has taken on Kenyan families.
Data on milk intake in the formal sector by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) show that in the period covering January to May, consumption was at 299.7 million litres, down from 323.6 million during a similar period last year.
Poor production
Milk intake has dropped by seven per cent for the periods over the past three years, from 321.86 million litres in 2021, the KNBS information shows.
Total monthly sugar sales also fell from 65,921 tonnes in January to 38,102 in June, a 42.2 per cent drop.
The six-month period recorded the poorest performance in sugar sales (296,237 tonnes), compared to similar periods over the past three years, meaning it was the half-year period Kenyans have consumed the least amount of the sweetener since 2020.
“Total closing stocks of sugar held by factories as at the end of June 2023 dropped to 7,363 tonnes from 11,396 tonnes in May,” the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) Sugar Market News for June shows.
And while maize production in Kenya fell by more than two million bags last year to 34.3 million bags – a situation that should have informed higher imports before harvesting of the crop this year – only 3.1 million bags had been imported by the time, compared to the 4.9 million that had been brought in from outside the country during a similar period last year, the AFA report says.
“The total maize import in June was 386,864 (90kg) bags compared to the May volume of 329,530 bags. Maize imports from Tanzania were higher in the month compared to Uganda,” AFA’s Food and Nutrition Security Report for June continues.
Wheat imports fell by 20.5 per cent, from 9.3 million bags in the first six months of last year to 7.4 million bags during a similar period this year, despite poor production of the crop last year, which was below the yields in 2021 by 22 per cent.
With the cost of living taking a toll on a majority of rural and urban Kenyan families, many have readjusted their lifestyles, making sacrifices on their consumption of food and other basics.
Last year, the importation of second-hand clothes, relied on by many households, dropped by four per cent to 177,664 tonnes, according to the KNBS.
