Meat lovers to pay more for the Christmas bite as livestock prices hiked

A spot check during Ilbissil Market Day on Friday has revealed the highest-ever price of livestock. Goats and sheep, which are normally sold between seven thousand to ten thousand now sell at twenty thousand.

Traders have associated the high prices with the just concluded drought where a huge number of livestock were killed by ravaging drought and now the few remaining have to be sold at high prices.

Some buyers who had rushed to the market to buy goats for Christmas say they will be forced to remove meat from their menus due to stretched prices.

"Those that were sold at Ksh.3000 are now selling at Ksh.10,000. It is that way because they have become much less and that is why the buyers are complaining," said Alice Meikokoi, a trader.

"Some goats are now selling at Ksh.20,000 and a while back they were selling at Ksh.10,000," said a buyer Abdi Ngaluma.

Evans Mwangi added, "Maybe now the only option left is to buy soda and bread because even meat from the butchery is expensive."