"I was once attacked by thieves when I was working as a security officer in one of the companies in Mombasa and since then my life changed. I can no longer do any casual work to earn a living, I now depend on my wife and this has been disturbing me mentally. Culturally, it is the wife who needs to depend on the husband and not vice versa. My wife is working in Mombasa and I have to use a motorist to fetch water for me, with the rise in petrol prices, my motorist also raised the charges from150 KES per trip to 300KES which have made me at times sleep without taking a shower and repeating my clothes without washing them."

"I have been struggling to make ends meet since we experienced a rise in the cost of basic commodities. My motorcycle business is not doing good due to the high prices of fuel. I have been struggling to service my motorbike loan."

"Feeding the family is a challenge nowadays. Food prices has gone up so much. Buying a sack of maize has increased to KES 4,000 from KES 2500. I use four sacks of maize in a year and I have to work hard to be able to buy food every day. Sugar and cooking oil is no longer in our menu though children cannot survive without them."

"Currently, my life is difficult because I don't have a source of income. My husband earns about KES 5000 per month after some deductions. We try to provide for dor the household using this over the whole month. As you can see, It is not enough given the current bt rise in food item prices."

"I own a hardware shop at Labotiet shopping centre where I sell building materials. The main challenge that I face is the decreasing number of customers who come to buy because of skyrocketing prices of building materials. I hardly sell and the business is on the verge of collapsing because I have been using working capital to finance the basic needs of my family. I am worried that if the situation continues as it is materials such as cement might expire and will be a big loss to me"

"Food insecurity due to financial instability is a menace in my household. I undergo lots of struggles to ensure my 5 children have something to eat. The income I make from charcoal burning is very low compared to the food prices. A 2,000 KES a month income cannot sustain a family of 6 members for a full month."

"I live next to a milk cooling plant and I have desired to venture into dairy farming so that I can capitalize on the impressive milk prices that this plant offer to farmers. They buy milk at KES 60 which is way above what milk vendors are offering. At the moment I do crop farming which is not doing well because of unfavorable weather conditions such as long periods of drought. In January this year, I planted maize and beans in my 0.5-acre piece of land only for it to wither 3months later. These losses have hindered me from achieving my dream of owning a dairy cow. I am happy that I can see light at the end of the tunnel because I have been enrolled and there is hope that my dream will soon come true. I intend to use KES 35,000 from my transfer to buy a Friesian breed that will produce 7liters of milk daily. Receiving this money will be a new beginning for my family as I will not have to over-rely on crop farming alone."

"Food insecurity is the most pinching challenge I am facing. Due to the failed rains, buying food is the only option unlike before when I was producing my own. I work as a charcoal burner, earning roughly 5,000 KES per month. With the food prices increasing day by day, sufficiently providing food for my 8 member family has been very challenging considering my little income."

"With the tough economic situation in the country, the prices of commodities have hiked which has made things worse for me because I do not have a consistent income. Lack of money to purchase food for my family left me with no choice but to opt for a meal per day so I can spare some for the next day. I never wished for my children to live this kind of life which is full of frustrations. My current challenge is therefore lack of money to meet the household responsibilities."

"The biggest challenge is food insecurity. Currently we are experiencing food prices inflation and yet we do not have a stable source of income. My source of income has been pottery and with the increased rainfall, it takes a while for a pot to dry up thus delaying the time of sale. Rainfall is a blessing however, with my type of work it can be disadvantaging."