The cost of transporting fresh produce has shot up by over 30 per cent in the Kinangop and Naivasha areas due to high fuel prices and the shortage crisis recently witnessed in the country. Transporters have been forced to hike their prices and this has led to a rise in the cost of vegetables, milk and eggs in the local markets. Some trading centers have been facing an acute shortage of the products in the last two weeks.
The situation has been worsened by the high prices of fertilizer and the harsh weather conditions that have adversely affected farming.
A representative of the South Kinangop Farmers Association said they were incurring huge losses in ferrying their produce to the market. He noted that transporters had pushed the transport cost since the fuel crisis started two weeks ago forcing them to add the product prices.
“We have been forced to increase the prices of food prices due to a rise in transport cost and this is adversely affecting the agriculture sector,” he said.
On his part, Salaton Kinyanjui from the Maella area said that the fuel crisis had paralyzed transport in the agriculture-rich region leading to a shortage of food in nearby towns.
Source: the-star.co.ke
