The disruption of usual meat supply channels from Kenya to the Middle East has seen meat traders from the Gulf fly into Kenya with pockets full of dollars which has inflated the price of meat in the country to record highs....CONTINUE READING
According to the KNBS March 2024 data, the average retail price for a kilogram of beef (with bone) is Sh625. This is a 16.6 per cent rise from the same time last year. The last time a kilogram of meat sold for below Sh500 in Kenya was two years ago in March 2022, selling at Sh499. 97.
Due to the 2020 to 2023 severe drought that ravaged East Africa, over 9.5 million livestock are estimated to have died in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya by March last year. This saw a complete decimation of stock fit for slaughter and export that livestock keepers are yet to recover from.
Previously, it would take goat traders such as Mcharo Mbogho 14 days to source and supply 1,000 goats. Today, he informs, it takes him three weeks to rustle just 200 goats.
“Usually, beef traders who are often Pakistani in countries like Dubai and Bahrain would place orders through us. But as it became increasingly difficult to meet their orders and for them to honor their contracts, they had to fly into Kenya,” explained Mcharo who’s also the proprietor of Kilengeta Farm in Taita Taveta.
These organised exporters who exclusively buy in dollars are now competing on the ground with local slaughterhouse buyers. Though it has since eased off to Sh131, in February of this year, the dollar traded for Sh169– a 53.6 per cent increase from 2020.
“Two years ago, we’d sell a kilogram of beef for about Sh450. Now, because of the high purchase cost, I’ll need to sell a kg for at least Sh675 to make a profit,” said Gandi Mwaisakeni, a butchery owner in Bomeni Ward in Taita Taveta.
In local markets, a goat that would cost bulk buyers Sh5,000 now sells at minimum for Sh8,500 if you know your way around, and for Sh9,000 for first-time buyers..<<CONTINUE READING>>
