July 2020 Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket: Rising Living Costs Amplifying Inequalities in the Context of COVID-19

The JCTR Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) for the month of July 2020 stood at K 7,204.24. A total increase of K143.44 from the June 2020 basket which stood at K 7,060.80. Increases in the basket were recorded on the prices of the following items; Pounded groundnuts that rose sharply from K33.77 to K102.16 for 1kg, chicken which increased by K58.81 from K144.33 to K203.14 for 5kg, soya pieces that rose to K135.85 from K90.55 for 2kg, other fruits moved from K251.63 to K283.33 for 14kg and sweet potatoes increased from K18.43 to K41.20 for 4kg. Other items such as rice, tomatoes and beans recorded price increase between K17 and K21 while cooking oil increased by slightly over K10 from K99.12 to K111.91 for 3.6lt. The July basket noted reductions in the price of items such as roller mealie meal that moved from K195.33 to K175.71, cassava flour moved from K211.75 to K135.50 and bananas that reduced K189.78 to K179.43. From the non-food but essential items the price of charcoal reduced significantly from K322.40 to K266.67 for two 90kg bags.