Compounding Humanitarian Strain: Rising Freight Expenses Shrink Food Baskets in Kakuma and Dadaab

Persistent regional disparities in regulated fuel prices are intensifying food insecurity across refugee-hosting counties in northern Kenya, where steep transport surcharges push pump rates significantly higher than in major urban centers.

Even after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) maintained unchanged pump prices for the November 15 to December 14, 2026 cycle through a Ksh4.6 billion Petroleum Development Levy stabilization cushion, motorists and freight operators in remote northern towns continue paying substantially more per litre.

Under EPRA’s pricing schedule, diesel—the primary fuel powering commercial food haulage—retails at Ksh236.66 per litre in Kakuma and Ksh238.58 in Liboi, compared to Ksh227.76 in Nairobi and Ksh224.61 in Mombasa.

This pricing gap stems from EPRA’s retail pricing formula, which factors in secondary transport costs from storage depots to distant dispensing stations.

Because northern counties such as Turkana and Garissa lack local pipeline terminals and rely on long-distance road haulage across vast, often rough terrain, fuel marketers pass heavy logistics expenses directly onto retail stations.

For residents and displaced populations in Kakuma, Kalobeyei, and the Dadaab refugee complex, expensive diesel triggers an immediate ripple effect across local food markets.

Because arid conditions limit local crop farming, nearly all staples—including maize flour, beans, cooking oil, and fresh produce—must be trucked hundreds of kilometers from agricultural hubs in the Rift Valley and central Kenya.

Higher transport overhead inflates retail shelf prices, eroding the purchasing power of low-income host households and stretching cash-based humanitarian food assistance to its limits.

Development analysts warn that unless infrastructure upgrades and targeted logistics interventions reduce transport bottlenecks, structural fuel inequality will continue undermining nutritional security in northern Kenya’s most vulnerable communities.

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https://peopledaily.digital/business/fuel-inequality-how-costly-epra-pump-prices-threaten-food-access-in-refugee-hosting-northern-kenya

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