Nairobi, March 2 -- The Ministry of Trade has mapped 500,000 retail shops in the country where cheap imported foodstuff will be stocked as the government targets to ease the cost of living that pushed inflation to 9.2 percent in February.

Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria told the Business Daily that the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) has identified the shops that will benefit from this programme.

Mr Kuria said the ministry's estimates show the cost of basic food commodities will decrease by at least 30 percent under this duty-free import scheme.

Mr Kuria said KNTC, which is importing the foodstuff, will sell these commodities directly to the shops that have been mapped out, hence reducing the long value chain that eventua...