Kenya Loses Ksh72 Billion in Food Every Year Despite Rising Hunger
Kenya is losing an alarming amount of food every year—worth billions of shillings—even as millions of people across the country struggle to find enough to eat.
A new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) Africa shows that up to 40 percent of all food produced in Kenya is wasted annually, painting a stark picture of both economic loss and social inequality.
The study, titled Food Loss and Waste, revealed that nearly 9 million tons of food go to waste each year, translating to a staggering Ksh72 billion (about USD 578 million) in losses. This waste happens while about one in every four Kenyans faces food insecurity, going to bed without enough food on a daily basis.
What Foods Are Most Wasted?
At the top of the list are maize and fruits, followed by potatoes and fish. According to the report:
- Maize losses reach as high as 36 percent, hurting households since maize is the main ingredient in ugali, the country’s staple dish. These losses contribute to high flour prices, making ugali less affordable for low-income families.
- Potatoes record a waste level of about 23 percent, often due to poor storage and transport.
- Fish faces wastage of 34 percent, much of it occurring before reaching markets or consumers.
- Fruits are wasted at an even higher rate, with 56 percent lost on average. Among these, mangoes experience losses ranging from 17 to 56 percent, avocados between 15 and 35 percent, and bananas around 7 to 11 percent. Poor handling, lack of cold storage, and delays in transport are among the major reasons.
The report emphasizes that these losses are so large they could fill 500 million trucks of 18 tons each—a striking illustration of just how much food never makes it to Kenyan households.
Who Suffers the Most?
The consequences of this crisis are felt across different groups:
- Farmers lose income and potential profits when their produce goes bad after harvest. This directly threatens their livelihoods, especially for smallholder farmers who rely on seasonal crops for daily survival.
- Consumers suffer from food shortages and price hikes, especially when staple foods like maize are wasted at such high levels.
- Businesses lose profits due to inefficiencies in the supply chain, missed sales opportunities, and rising operational costs.
- Government efforts to achieve national food security are undermined when large amounts of food rot in storage or fail to reach markets.
Why Is This Happening?
The WRI Africa report points out that most Kenyans—both farmers and consumers—have a limited understanding of how big the problem is. Because food loss is not always visible, many people see it as a distant issue, even though its effects ripple through society in the form of higher prices, hunger, and poverty.
The Way Forward
The report suggests that if Kenya manages to reduce food loss by half by the year 2030, the country could feed an additional 7 million people every year while saving up to Ksh36 billion annually.
Some of the practical solutions recommended include:
- Better tracking of data to identify exactly where and why food is being wasted.
- Wider use of proven technologies, such as cold storage, hermetic bags that keep grain fresh, and efficient transportation methods.
- Training programs for farmers to improve post-harvest handling and reduce spoilage.
- Policy reforms to enforce food security standards and encourage investments in storage and processing infrastructure.
- Food recovery and donation programs, where surplus food from high-production areas can be redirected to regions facing shortages.
However, the report warns that while these technologies and strategies exist, their adoption remains limited in scale.
Expanding them requires greater government involvement, private sector investment, and stronger awareness campaigns to change how Kenyans view and handle food waste.
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