It would take 2,333 machines to deliver one million chapatis per day, as promised to students in Nairobi County by President William Ruto.
On Tuesday, during his visit to the St Teresa Girls Secondary School in Nairobi’s Mathare area, Ruto promised to boost Governor Johnson Sakaja's Dishi na County project by buying him a chapati-making machine that can produce a million units daily.
Well, Edwin Mwendo, a Jua Kali trader, might be the man President Ruto is looking for at this moment, as his chapati-making machine can make Ruto's promise of 1 million chapatis daily a reality.
According to Mwendo, with 2,333 of his chapati-making machines which makes 3,000 chapatis daily, one million chapatis daily is possible.
Made from metal, the machine comes as a whole package with different components, including a dough mixer, a chapati presser, which presses the dough balls into the round shape, and a cooker on the side.
In an interview with KTN News, Mwendo showcased the machine, explained how it works, and revealed the kind of support the jua kali sector needs to deliver on this mandate.
Mwendo has been in the chapati-making business for over a year and six months now, but he changed his trajectory from making the chapatis themselves to the machine, which he says is in demand.
When he started the business, he was making everything manually; however, over time, he got an idea to come up with a machine to increase productivity, reduce labour, and reduce the prices of chapos, as they are popularly referred to.
He got the inspiration for the chapati-making machine from the pizza press. Like the pizza press, the machine has a handle that is used to press the dough on a flat surface found inside the machine.
"I got the idea from the pizza press. If pizza can be pressed by a machine, then even chapatis can be pressed the same way. Compared to pizzas, chapatis, which on average are 25 centimeters, can be done quite fast," Mwendo said.
The machine can make 300 chapatis in an hour, and Mwendo has explained that delivering 1 million chapatis daily is possible. Although he has not revealed the price of the machine, Mwendo revealed its potential.
"You don't need a centralized machine; one can purchase these machines and distribute them to schools. Per school, it can produce around 3,000 chapatis per day," Mwendo explained.
"Let's say you have 2,000 machines like these, and you distribute them to schools, and then every school is producing their own 3,000 chapatis, then achieving 1 million chapatis daily is possible," he continued.
Producing one million chapatis per day would require 40,000 packets of wheat flour totaling approximately Ksh6.4 million, 20,000 liters of cooking oil at Ksh5 million, and a machine that produces approximately 42,000 chapatis per hour.
According to Mwendo, he is not the only adept jua kali trader able to make the machine. He says numerous young men in the sector are making machines and even other innovative equipment.
He has called on the government to offer support to the sector and empower them to innovate and create even more since more Kenyans are trusting their products to be better and more durable than imported machines.
