The most common Ramadan foods whose prices have gone up

Awadh Omar owns a corner shop in the Mombasa market. He sells sweet dates from Saudi Arabia and sweet natural honey from Yemen and Germany.

He was gearing up for one of his busiest times of the year - sales ahead of the holy month of Ramadan - but disruptions to Red Sea shipping caused concern.

So Awadh decided to send his order earlier this year to ensure that his products arrive early.

But unfortunately Awadh missed out on the Kenyan government's 20-day Ramadan tax holiday that began on March 1.

There has been a major disruption in the past two months in shipping East African goods, due to Houthi rebels' attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

This has a significant impact on the cost of living throughout the region. Ships are diverted around the Cape in South Africa, increasing the cost of transporting various products.

Saudi Arabia "They produce high-quality dates that people love here. This year, we are seeing an increase in prices because we are being charged a lot for freight, as well as the expensive dollar exchange rate which is not beneficial for us," he said. said Awad.

The Kenyan shilling has fallen against the US dollar, and at the beginning of March, 1 dollar was 144 shillings, while a year ago it was 127 shillings per dollar.

There are fears that sweets will not reach many people this year. One carton of dates is now sold for 17 dollars, while last year it was sold for about 10 dollars. It is difficult to buy expensive products that cannot be cheap," said Fu'ad Omar, one of them. traders in Mombasa.

Dates are an important food for Muslim communities around the world. Dates, which are used throughout the year, play a significant role during Ramadan, giving people much-needed energy during fasting. It is eaten as a ritual (Sunna) when breaking the fast.

Other items that have increased in price include Sareen and flour, which are also widely used during Ramadan.

The disruption in the Red Sea has caused merchants to report frequent delays and high costs associated with their products but these additional costs are now being felt by ordinary shoppers.

In the long term, this disruption to shipping could have a negative impact on the economy around the world.

In addition to food products, this has also had a significant impact on other imported luxury goods, including various cars.

Leonard Njiru, the owner of a car importing company, told the BBC that the delay in ships coming from Europe, Dubai, Singapore and Japan at the port of Mombasa could cause losses to traders.

Mr Njiru explained that used cars and those older than 8 years from abroad are not allowed to enter the Kenyan market and therefore do not have any registration.

The BBC has contacted the Kenya Ports Authority for a response to the reported drop in the number of container ships arriving in February 2024 compared to December 2023 but has yet to receive a response.