The price of eggs in Kenya, as in any other country, is determined by a complex interplay of various factors, including supply and demand, production costs, transportation costs, taxes, and subsidies, among others.
It is not possible to attribute the recent increase in egg prices in Kenya to a single factor, as many of these factors may have contributed.
According to the consumer price index, the price of eggs globally jumped by 49.0% in the past year alone. This was majorly caused by Bird flu where millions of egg-laying hens died in 2022 as a result of the avian flu outbreak. So, how have prices in Kenya changed?
Read: Pain At The Pump As Fuel Prices Hit A Historic High
Data shows there has been a significant decline in the production of eggs in Kenya over the last two years with the price of each egg shooting from ksh.11 to ksh.20 over a period of 2 years. ‘Is it that the low production against demand has caused the spike in the prices of eggs? How is it that a crate now goes for ksh.400 up from Ksh.230?’
There are different speculations on what could have possibly led to this, the major being taxation in Kenya. The chicken feed is expensive, the middlemen are costly, and the transportation cost has risen due to the high fuel prices.
In fact, some Kenyans have opted to import their eggs from Uganda which on average produces about 3 million eggs daily with 70% of them landing in Kenya.
Read: Electricity Prices Spike For The Second Month In A Row
In line with this, Kenyans have to adjust to a few things, one of them being the high prices, which will probably increase further as fuel prices are also set to increase globally. Additionally, as much as eggs have proteins, Kenya will have to seek other sources of protein to decrease their demand for eggs.
It is true that this may not be a long-term solution, but it can work for now as we stabilize the economy.
Email your news TIPS to editor@thesharpdaily.com
