Majority of rural dwellers are cushioning themselves from the high cost of living by making use of farms as source of food.
A new Poll by Tifa research conducted between 25 November and 7 December indicates many folks in the rural parts of the country are giving shops a wide berth when purchasing the consumables.
“…a small majority of Kenyans (59 per cent) purchase most of their food at shops/kiosks, far more urban dwellers do so as compared with those living in rural areas (83 per cent versus 46 per cent). Yet among rural-dwellers, only about half rely on their own shambas as their main source of such consumable (49 per cent), which presumably gives them at least some protection from the constant increase in the cost-of-living,” notes the Tifa Poll.
- The overall year on year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.8 per cent, in November 2023, slightly down from 6.9 per cent recorded in October.
- According to the monthly Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Data, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index rose by 0.4 per cent between October 2023 and November 2023.
- Prices of tomatoes, oranges and wheat flour increased by 17.7, 3.8 and 3.3 per cent, respectively. The prices of potatoes, maize flour-sifted and cabbages went down by 7.1, 6.5 and 3.6 per cent, respectively.
The poll engaged 3,009 respondents who constitute a representative sample of Kenya’s adult population above 17 years of age.
The findings indicate a majority of respondents (87%) report having had to recently reduce expenditure on various items due to the constantly rising cost-of-living in recent years. Among the main monthly income-earning categories, the figures differ only slightly, though the more affluent (i.e., earning more than Shs. 20,000/- a month) have had to do this slightly.
- Among income-earners (at whatever level), the vast majority mention food as the main purchase-item/category they have had to reduce expenditure on recently due to inflation.
- Those somewhat more affluent (earning above Shs. 20,000/-) have had to do this a bit less than those earning least (below Shs. 5,000/-: 79% vs. 88%), while the second most common decrease among the former has been on transport (which also applies to those in the middle income-category: 19% for both).
- According to the poll, the vast majority of all Kenyans (84 per cent) consider their current economic condition to be worse than what it was a year ago.
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