The pain of a shrinking economy
The aroma of freshly fried tilapia drifts through a busy roadside corner in Nyali, Mombasa, as Sarah Omondi serves a customer, then turns back to a charcoal stove sizzling with fish.
For seven years, this small-scale trade has been her livelihood. It has paid rent, fed her family, put four children through school, and earned her credit through a local SACCO. But today, Sarah’s future hangs in the balance as rising fuel prices ripple through the economy, squeezing profits for thousands of informal traders like her.
“Business used to be much better,” she says. “Nowadays, everything is becoming more expensive, especially the fish.”
On a good day, Sarah sells up to 200 pieces of fried tilapia, traditionally priced at Ksh 350 each. Demand has always been strong—tilapia remains one of Kenya’s favourite coastal delicacies. But behind every fish she sells lies a supply chain heavily dependent on fuel.
Most tilapia consumed in Mombasa comes from fish farms in Kisumu and the Lake Victoria region, hundreds of kilometres away. Getting it to the Coast requires refrigerated trucks and distributors reliant on road transport. When fuel prices rise, so do transport costs, and the burden lands squarely on traders and consumers.
“The suppliers increased their prices because fuel has gone up,” Sarah explains. “For me to make any profit, I also have to increase the selling price.”
She now sells her fried tilapia at up to Ksh 400 apiece. The higher price cushions her against rising costs, but it is driving customers away.
“Many people are finding it hard to afford the fish now,” she says. “Some who used to buy regularly no longer come as often.”
Her shrinking customer base threatens the very foundation of her business, and her story reflects a wider reality across Kenya. From vegetable vendors and food kiosks to boda boda operators and market traders, rising fuel prices are pushing up the cost of transporting goods and services, forcing businesses to either absorb losses or pass them on to customers who often cannot keep up.
The effects are especially severe in the informal sector, which employs millions of Kenyans and sustains countless low-income households. Unlike large corporations, small traders have little financial cushion to absorb prolonged cost increases.
SACCOs’ support
For Sarah, the pressure now extends beyond daily operations. She is struggling to service a loan from her local SACCO, a challenge many traders face when earnings decline unexpectedly.
“Paying the loan is becoming difficult because sales are not what they used to be,” she says.
Her predicament captures the interconnected nature of Kenya’s economy: a rise in fuel prices ripples through transportation, food prices, household budgets, business revenues, and loan repayments, ultimately shaping livelihoods. Recent unrest in the transport sector- protests and strikes by matatu operators over fuel costs- has only underscored how deeply fuel prices shape economic activity nationwide.
Yet amid the strain, cooperative financial institutions like SACCOs can offer real support. Affordable credit, flexible loan restructuring, financial literacy programmes, and savings products tailored to small businesses can help traders withstand economic shocks. Group savings schemes known as chamas provide an additional safety net, allowing members to pool resources and support one another through difficult periods.
Sarah belongs to one such chama, where members save together and lean on each other for support—a lifeline that has grown more vital as households across Kenya cope with a rising cost of living. Financial experts argue that stronger partnerships between SACCOs, chamas, and small businesses could build lasting resilience through emergency savings funds, affordable working capital loans, and business management training.
For now, Sarah’s greatest hope is that fuel prices stabilize and the cost of living comes down.
“We just want things to become affordable again,” she says. “When fuel prices rise, everything else rises too. We suffer, and our customers suffer.”
As she serves another customer and prepares the next batch of tilapia, Sarah’s story puts a human face on a national crisis. It is not just about selling fish, it is about protecting a livelihood, educating children, repaying debts, and holding a family together in an economy where fuel prices determine the fortunes of millions.
