How Kenyans are getting creative to survive inflation

• Find out the smart ways in which people in urban centres are using to beat the hard times
• Many families in urban centres are now at their creative best figuring out alternative ways of survival to save on that extra coin

As the bitter pill of inflation bites harder, many urbanites seem to have suddenly realised that village gardens and markets exist.

They are flocking villages in search of cereals and horticultural products, all in the name of saving that valuable coin.

With inflation at 12.5 per cent, financial experts warn that the full effects of the hard times will become even more pronounced in months to come, when the figure hits the 15 per cent mark.

But people in towns are not waiting for the times to get worse and are executing radical lifestyle changes, to cope with the situation.

During times like these, the most biting strain is in the food supply chain and placing a meal on the table becomes the most urgent need.

Many families in urban centres are now at their creative best figuring out alternative ways of survival through short cuts based on rethought basic economic values.

“I have now realised that I should be farming in my rural home,” says Mr Jared Warui, an insurance broker.

He adds that this revelation hit him after he travelled home last month and returned to the city with foodstuffs from his mother’s farming activities.

“For a week, I did not part with a penny to buy food for my family of four. There were arrowroots and cassava for breakfast, as well as ripe bananas. I had eggs and greens too. I carried 10 kilos of maize and beans, and saved more than Sh3,000 in shopping,” he says.

He adds that he has realised that people in towns are only complaining of the high cost of living due to their lack of sampling the rural economy.

“It is fine if the complaints are about fuel, electricity and rent. But on food, they have no case. I urge them to establish market links with the rural agricultural sector,” he says.

Observations in markets within rural areas show that more foodstuffs are being bought by shoppers boarding urban destined matatus.

“We are now the ones feeding town people directly. They are coming into our farms as opposed to the better economic times when they wait for brokers to deliver the foodstuffs to supermarkets,” says Mary Wangare, a Karatina-based grocery operator.

She adds that the fastest moving produce are greens and fruits, while cereals come in second favourite.

“Many of my customers from major towns call their friends telling them that they are in a rural market. At this, the friends grab the opportunity to restock their kitchens and send me money through the phone,” she says.

During better times their fridges in town are loaded with exorbitantly-priced produce bought in supermarkets, but now village procured foodstuffs have authoritatively found their way into those gadgets.

Ms Wamucii Kinyari, a marketing executive in Nairobi, says she abandoned supermarkets when she realised that she has been spending too much on stuff that she could cheaply procure from the village.

“A litre of milk in my Karatina home is being sold at Sh20. In the supermarkets, half a litre is selling at Sh35. Sukuma wiki worth Sh20 in the village can last a week whereas buying enough for a meal of the same in the city’s supermarkets goes for Sh100. I have just realised there are better bargains out there,” she says.