A UN report has revealed that vulnerable people in many countries are paying more for food but getting less.
Magdalene Auma is a casual labourer who earns a living by washing clothes for young working families in the upcoming town of Utawala in Embakasi East, Nairobi county.
She said on a good week, she makes between Sh1,500 to Sh2,000.
Auma said a year ago, she would spent about Sh1,000 to Sh1500 to do shopping for her family of four.
“Sh1,000 shopping for house items would serve my family for a week. But today you can only buy like three items. Everything has become costly and I am the breadwinner. I do not have another source of income,” she said.
Auma is among many Kenyans who the high cost of living has taken a toll on.
According to a new report released on Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the world's most vulnerable are paying more for less food.
“Worryingly, many vulnerable countries are paying more but receiving less food,” FAO said in its latest Food Outlook.
The report further showed that the global food import bill is expected to hit a record high of Sh210.7 trillion (US$1.8 trillion) this year, adding that higher prices and transport costs rather than volumes account for the bulk of the expected increase.
Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics showed the food import bill rose by 21 per cent from Sh128.06 billion in 2020 to Sh155. 42 billion in 2021. China is the most significant contributor of Kenyan imports accounting for 31.6 per cent of the total bill.
FAO economist and lead editor of the Food Outlook Upali Galketi pointed to a likely tightening of food markets and food import bills in view of the soaring input prices, concerns about the weather and increased market uncertainties stemming from the war in Ukraine.
Galketi said animal fats and vegetable oils are the single biggest contributor to the higher import bills expected to be reached in 2022, although cereals are not far behind for developed countries.
“Developing countries, as a whole, are reducing imports of cereals, oilseeds and meat, which reflects their incapacity to cover the increase in prices,” he said.
The Food Outlook indicated that the global food import bill is projected to rise by Sh5.9 trillion ($51 billion) from 2021, of which Sh5.7 billion ($49 billion) reflects higher prices.
Least Developed Countries are anticipated to undergo a five-per cent contraction in their food import bill this year, while sub-Saharan Africa and the group of Net Food-Importing Developing Countries are both expected to register an increase in total costs, despite a reduction in imported volumes.
“These are alarming signs from a food security perspective, indicating that importers will find it difficult to finance rising international costs, potentially heralding an end of their resilience to higher prices,” the report noted.
FAO has proposed a food import financing facility to provide balance-of-payment support to the low-income countries most reliant on food imports as a strategy to safeguard their food security.
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