Why your plate of rice will soon cost more

It is going to cost more to serve a plate of rice, with prices expected to rise in the coming days due to high production costs.

Rice farmers in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County are spending Sh12 more to produce a kilogramme of rice due to high cost of farm inputs that have doubled from last year, which could threaten annual production.

Where a farmer was spending Sh30 per kilogramme of paddy, he is now spending Sh42 to produce the same quantity, which translates to about 40 per cent increase in cost of production.

This time last year, a 50kg bag of topdressing fertiliser was selling at Sh1,500. It is now selling at Sh3,400 while a similar bag of NPK fertiliser is selling at between Sh6,400 and Sh7,000, up from Sh2,500.

“Rice farming has become such as costly affair that we are doing it to sustain ourselves by affording basic needs. There is no profit and we end up suffering surmountable losses,” said Mr John Patrick Muya, a farmer at the scheme.

Subsidised fertiliser

In 2020, the government announced that it had set aside Sh2 billion for an e-voucher system that would allow farmers to access or buy subsidised fertiliser, where they would pay about 60 per cent of the total cost of the produce.

Registered farmers have been given a voucher that they use to buy the farm inputs and seeds from agrovet shops, which later claim the money from the government, saving on time the farmers would spend waiting for the products at the National Cereal and Produce Board (NCPB).

According to Mr Muya, the government subsidy fertiliser is available for farmers only once a year while they have one main season and a ratoon -- a second crop -- in February, usually after the main season in December. Rice farmers apply three types of fertiliser before the crop matures.

Through the e-subsidy programme, they are provided with three bags of fertiliser and one litre of herbicides.

In the rice paddies, there is a lot of manual labour required and the cost has shot up by 67 per cent. Workers now charge Sh500 from Sh300, a consequence of unavailable cheap labour from school children during the holidays.

Cost of rice

Farmers at the scheme are lamenting that although the cost of production has been shooting up, the cost of rice has remained the same since last year.

To make profits with the production margins, the farmers said they are supposed to increase the price of white rice per kilogramme from the current Sh130. However, they face stiff competition from readily available cheap imported rice from Pakistan, which sells at Sh80 per kilo.

Cheap imports have flooded the market, spoiling the party for local farmers who produce about 80 per cent of rice consumed in the country. This has led to adulteration of the Mwea original Pishori rice with the imports, to lower the price.

“We would want to charge higher for our rice, but we cannot, otherwise no one will buy from us. The demand for our rice is now becoming low while the supply is always high such that when you offer a certain price the buyer wants to dictate how much they want to pay because there is an already available cheaper option,” added Mr Muya.

Regulate imports

The farmers want the government to regulate the imports and impose heavy taxes on them to even the playing field.

However, the local production of rice cannot satiate demand in the country.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, rice consumption in the country stands at more than 650,000 tonnes against a production of 140,000 tonnes of paddy rice, which translates to 90,000 tonnes of white rice after milling.

Further, due to droughts in the region, rivers have dried up, forcing the irrigation board to ration water in the scheme. Each unit is supplied with water every two weeks. This will also contribute to decreased rice production.

At the same time, food prices have gone up and the increase has been attributed to the failed short rains normally expected in the months of October to December.

Prices of cereals and dry foods have particularly gone up with some like lentils and maize shooting up by up to 25 percent in the last one month, at retail level.

Ms Teresa Kirathe, a cereals trader at the Nyeri Town Market said there has been a shortage of produce from the farmers thus leading to an increase in the retail market prices.

Two kilograms of dry maize that was retailing at Sh80 last month now costs Sh100 while a kilogramme of lentils that previously went for Sh200 now costs Sh250.

Previously, she would buy a bag of maize at Sh2,800 but now buys it at Sh3,400.

“The explanation we get from farmers is that they did not harvest enough as per their expectations because of the recent unfavourable weather,” she says.

For black beans, a 90-kilogram bag that three months ago would sell at Sh6,500 now goes for Sh7,000.

While some of the foods are being sourced locally, others are imported from other countries.

Irrespective of the source, Ms Kirathe noted that some of the foods distributed locally from the Mombasa port have also experienced an increase in prices.

Middlemen

“We buy such food products from middlemen who have also recently become expensive saying that there is not enough produce that is being shipped into the country,” she said.

Currently, most of the rice that is sold locally is imported from other countries.

A 25-kilogram bag of rice that she would previously sell at Sh2,600 now goes for Sh2,800.

Mr Kariuki Gatiba, another market seller said that there was a narrow price increase for fruits since some of the fruits that had experienced an upsurge in prices were going out of season.

For example, a mango that was retailing for Sh12 last month now costs Sh15.

“As the fruit continues to become scarce we also expect to increase the price with time because it will become insufficient in the market. However, the good thing is that it can always be substituted for a fruit that is in season,” he explained.

Erratic weather

Fresh vegetables, however, experienced an increase in price because of the recent erratic weather patterns in the country.

Currently, a kilogramme of red bulb onions is retailing at Sh100 from Sh70, tomatoes cost Sh70 from Sh50 while capsicum is Sh120 from Sh80 and carrots Sh60 from Sh50.

For vegetables, prices normally reduce during the rainy season. Currently, a bunch of the vegetable is retailing at Sh30 as compared to Sh20 when in the rainy season.

A cabbage that retails at Sh30 in the rainy season is going for Sh50.

Some of the substitute foods for processed products, like tubers have also registered an increase in prices.

For the sweet potatoes, a pack of six tubers would previously retail at Sh100 but now, four pieces go for the same amount of money.

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