The shilling’s dwindling value reveals the intense pressure on the economy, as a burgeoning US dollar forces the country to spend its precious foreign reserves to support runaway forex rates. The drop in the shilling’s value has affected inflation, foreign investments, and the price of imported commodities, posing economic issues for Kenya and its people. Many countries, including Kenya, rely on the US dollar as their primary trading and investment currency since it is the world’s reserve currency. Due to the rising demand for US dollars, the dollar’s value in relation to the Kenyan shilling has increased. The Kenyan shilling’s…
Author: NLM writer
Are you gradually losing your purchasing power? Here is what that broad rise in food and commodity prices portends Inflation is an essential economic indicator. Central banks and financial markets scrutinize inflation as it heavily influences their decision-making. It also plays a pivotal role in the value of currencies. As currency markets react to inflation data, exchange rates change. Inflation is characterized by a broad rise in the prices of goods and services across different economic sectors, eroding consumer and business purchasing power. For context, your shilling will not go as far today as last month. To understand the effects…
By NLM Writer Conversations on food security usually center on staples, such as maize, because our country’s sustenance depends on them. However, since our farming depends on specific crop varieties bred and adapted to low-input farming, our vulnerability to food insecurity is compounded by the absence of substantive diversification. Diversifying our farmed crops may hold the key to our country’s food and nutrition insecurity, rural prosperity, and the resilience of our agricultural systems. Crop diversification is an important coping mechanism for income, production, and marketing risks. By diversifying, farming households can spread production and economic risk over a wider range…
By Anna Collard It is now possible to use a publicly available artificial chatbot to generate a complete infection chain, possibly beginning with a spear phishing email written in entirely convincing, human-like language and eventually causing a complete takeover of a company’s computer systems. Researchers at Checkpoint recently created such a plausible phishing email as a test. They only used ChatGPT, a chatbot that uses deep learning techniques to generate text and conversations that can convince basically anyone that it was written by a real person. In reality, there are many potential cybersecurity dangers wrapped up in this impressive technology…
The continent is seeing a big shift in bio-manufacturing, potentially reducing dependence on vaccine imports and build self-reliance in its health sector. By Bonface Orucho A bid for self-sufficiency in the health sector is largely seen targeting vaccine imports and is elevating Africa’s bio-manufacturing industry, according to numerous recent reports which also point to improved healthcare capabilities. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for Africa to accelerate its vaccine manufacturing capabilities,” said Olilo Patrick, a Genetic Engineer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for biotechnology research and development. During the pandemic, vaccine access was almost impossible to most…
By NLM Writer It is a simple equation: farmers invest in their land, planting supplies, and labor and expect to produce enough to eat and sell. By every estimation, food production should be a profitable venture: everybody eats, and many economic sectors depend on agricultural products and agribusiness. Yet market systems often work against farmers. Formal food markets offer the best returns, but they are best suited to farmers with good proximity to markets and those who can consolidate their produce into quantities that allow them bargaining power. To help farmers with less land and who live far from such…
By Silas Apollo When the government came up with the idea of setting up parastatals and state corporations soon after independence in 1963, the goal was driven by a national desire to create institutions to help the country achieve social and economic growth. Central to this plan was a need by the government to have institutions that would, among other things: play important roles in accelerating economic and social development across the country, redress regional economic imbalances, increase citizen participation in the economy, and promote local and foreign investments. Against this backdrop, key institutions, which were mostly run and even…
By NLM writers Over the last week, I spent the better part of my time in the volatile regions of Turkana and West Pokot counties, specifically in areas around Kainuk, Lokichar, Lorokon, Kakongu, and Lokapel. In these areas, guns are commonplace. Children as young as 10 years are armed with AK-47 or G3 assault rifles. Going about my assignment I encountered the first group at Lokapel, one of the most remote areas near the border of Turkana and West Pokot counties. Eight heavily armed men stopped our vehicle as we headed to Kalemunyang, a distance of about 180 km, which…
By Silas Apollo All private agencies responsible for recruiting Kenyan workers to Saudi Arabia will now be subjected to fresh vetting to ensure compliance with the law. The Senate Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare said that the move is aimed at protecting Kenyan workers moving to the Middle East following complaints of mistreatment and harassment by their employers. The committee, chaired by West Pokot senator Julius Murgor Recha said that the move is also aimed at ensuring that the agencies comply with new rules and regulations set to be ratified by the government to protect workers. The decision…
By Silas Apollo At the onset of his administration, former President Uhuru Kenyatta announced an ambitious plan to set up an irrigation project that he hoped would secure the country’s food and cushion Kenyans from the devastating effects of drought. The 10,000-acre project – located at the Coast- was set to transform farming and agriculture in general and set the pace for similar projects across the country. Through the Galana-Kulalu irrigation project located within the Kilifi and Tana River counties, Mr Kenyatta argued that if successful, the project would pave the way for an additional one million acres of land…
