Empty shelves, rising prices: Inside Kenya’s growing food crisis

For millions of Kenyans, the rising cost of food is an everyday struggle playing out at the market, on the family dining table and in the shrinking household budget.

Maize, wheat, eggs and other everyday foods are caught in a squeeze of poor harvests, high production costs, supply disruptions and growing demand, with Kenya grappling with a shortage of key commodities that has seen the nation turn to its neighbours for survival.

At a time when the country is unable to meet its domestic milk demand, Kenya has turned to its neighbours, including Uganda.

Opening up on the current reality, Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui stated that this is not where the country should be, adding that the situation was unsustainable.

He called for increased support to farmers to boost local milk production and enable the country to attain self-sufficiency.

A spot check across leading supermarkets reveal empty shelves with some outlets restricting the purchase of milk to two packets of 500 ml.

Kenya Dairy Board attributed the shortage to seasonal production challenges which saw milk delivery to processors fall, with dry and cold weather in key milk-producing areas aggravating the situation.

Households, food vendors and businesses that rely on eggs have had to dig deeper into their pockets amid a prevailing tighter supply of eggs.

This has seen the price of eggs increase sharply, with the trend attributed to several factors, including high poultry-feed costs and weather-related challenges facing farmers.

Kenya has historically relied on Ugandan eggs during periods when local production is insufficient.

Ugali is a staple food in most Kenyan households and its continued presence on the table is threatened by widespread maize crop failure in the country.

With this comes the reality of a possible spike in maize flour prices and the government is racing against time to contain the situation.

Dwindling white maize stock in the country has set in motion plans to import 25 million 90-kilogramme bags of maize needed to meet local demand.

"Yes, we will import maize; we have already made arrangements for that, so it's not a big deal; we will manage. The country is not going to go hungry," Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said on August 19, 2026 as he lifted the lid on the government’s plans.

Wheat is one of Kenya’s most important and widely consumed food crops, finding its way into the daily diets of millions of households through bread, chapati, mandazi, pasta and other staple foods.

From breakfast tables and roadside kiosks to restaurants and school canteens, wheat-based foods are an everyday part of life for many Kenyans.

Wheat-based foods may however come at a heavy price, with local production unable to meet the demand, forcing the country to turn to imports.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kenya is expected to import approximately 2.6 million tonnes of wheat in the 2026/27 marketing year.

The rising cost of food is no longer a distant economic concern as the price of putting food on the table is becoming increasingly difficult for millions of Kenyans.

While the measures put in place by the government may provide short-term relief, they highlight the vulnerabilities of a food system facing unpredictable weather, rising production costs and inadequate domestic output.