The high cost of basic household commodities is pushing families to the edge. Suspicion is rife not because of infidelity but spending. Budgets have had to be adjusted upwards and the trend is not ending. 

Unfortunately, what we thought was a light at the end of the tunnel is turning out to be a bullet train approaching.

If Kenyans thought they had seen the worst of the high cost of living they should brace for a second round. Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, has indicated it will ban exports from Thursday. 

This will lift prices of all major edible oils including palm oil, soy oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. Already the cost of cooking oil has risen almost 100 per cent in the past few months. This ban will only rub salt to injury. 

However, is this scenario avoidable? Experts say so. Kenya imported Sh78 billion of crude edible vegetable oils in 2017 and Sh59 billion in 2018 according to data from the bureau of statistics.

These are processed from crops that have proven to do well under Kenya’s climate and soils. Crops such as sunflowers, cashew nuts and ground nuts; oil palm trees are easy to grow in Kenya across a wide spectrum of climatic conditions from the Coast, to the Highlands to Western Kenya.

Government officials know this but have never put in place structures and policies that can foster this industry. 

Besides the unnecessary haemorrhage of scarce foreign currency – at a time reduced global trade should prompt nations to save as much of their forex as they can – this criminal enterprise is patronised by cartels in government and charlatans who claim to be manufacturers.

It is time these cartels are brought to book and the country moves to claim its space in the palm oil extraction and use. The industry could yield between 1.5 to 2 million jobs in under 24 months in small scale farming of sun flower, cashew nuts, ground nuts among others.

These range from small scale farmers holding 1-2.5 acres earning new incomes from sale of the crops, and jobs for the youth in transport, bulking and processing.

There is no justification whatsoever why this cannot be done.  Charlatans and rogue officials should not be allowed room to make Kenyans suffer because of greed. The Indonesia ban should be a wakeup call that we need to rethink our policies.