A crate of eggs is currently retailing at Sh450 from Sh360 in early February while one egg now sells at Sh15 from Sh12 previously.
Traders attribute the sharp increase to a shortage locally as farmers cut on their stocks due to the high prices of feeds.
Dwindling supplies from Uganda following tight surveillance at the border that stopped eggs that were being smuggled into the country has made the situation dire.
The price of eggs has jumped 25 percent within a month, piling pressure on household budgets.
A crate of eggs is currently retailing at Sh450 from Sh360 in early February while one egg now sells at Sh15 from Sh12 previously.
Traders attribute the sharp increase to a shortage locally as farmers cut on their stocks due to the high prices of feeds. Dwindling supplies from Uganda following tight surveillance at the border that stopped eggs that were being smuggled into the country has made the situation dire.
“We are not getting enough supplies from farmers as we used before and the shortage is what has pushed up the price,” said James Ng’ang’a a trader in Nairobi.
The price of layers marsh has been on an upward trend since last year with a 50 kilogramme bag from Unga Limited retailing at Sh3,100 from Sh2,500 in March 2021. This has in turn pushed up the cost of production at the farm level.
Kiambu Farmers Cooperative Society coordinator Zachary Munyambu said out of the group’s 750 members, only 430 are still in business with the rest having shut down.
“Poultry farming has now become unsustainable, farmers have closed their businesses, cutting on supplies of eggs in the market,” said Mr Munyambu.
A spot check by the Business Daily at Maziwa market, which supplies parts of Nairobi's Eastlands with eggs, indicated that there was a scarcity with traders complaining of dwindling supplies.
Expensive feeds
The high cost of feeds is attributed to expensive maize and a shortage of key protein supplements such as sunflower cake and soy, which are hardly found locally.
Kenya normally relies on the supply of these ingredients from Zambia, a key source market, which last year banned exports to protect its market.
The cost of soy has doubled to Sh130 from Sh65 a kilogramme in August last year, while the sunflower meal went up from Sh25 to Sh35.
