People

Families in East Africa Contend with High Cost of Food Prices

Families in East Africa will for sometime contend with high food prices as a result of flooding, pests and diseases.

This is contained in the  monthly update by the Food Security Working Group on the Greater Horn.  

The update disclosed that families  in Rwanda, Karamoja of Uganda, Burundi, Somalia and Sudan which  depend on markets for food, will have to put up with the soaring prices of foodstuffs.

"Above average staple food prices will continue eroding the purchasing power of poor market-dependent households in Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan, which are heading into a lean season," the report stated.

The past week maize traded at $402.14 per tonne in Kisumu, Kenya, $319 in Ruhuha, Rwanda and $ 271.02 in Kabale town, Uganda.

However, in the last six months  a tonne of maize traded at $540.28 in Ruhuha, $279.38 in Uganda and $443.04 in Nairobi. In Burundi, only 60 per cent of households have food.

 

East Africa Food Security Agriculture