Traders at Daraja Mbili market in Kisii county have said the hike in food prices is due to the low supply and high demand from consumers.
"The low supply of food commodities from our suppliers has led to its shortage. We are forced to hike the prices to meet the production cost since the available suppliers demand a lot of money before they supply us with the commodities," said Edina Okeyo a trader.
"One tin of maize retails at Sh80, sweet potatoes at Sh100 per tin, rice at Sh200 for 2 Kgs," she added.
She urged the residents to bear with the situation since traders are in talks with suppliers to lower the cost to enable them as well reduce the prices for the commodities.
Jackson Manoti another trader said that the increase in prices is due to the heavy rains which have destroyed most farms leading a poor harvest over the past one month.
"Traders are taking advantage to reap high profits claiming that the supply is low. How comes they sell just 5 sukuma wiki leaves at Sh10 whereas in the past we even bought sukuma wiki at Sh5 in plenty? Traders are stealing from us secretly," said Ann Nyarangi a customer.