Your favourite rolls of chapati will soon taste and feel different if a proposal by the government takes its course.
Based on the initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture, millers will be required to blend flour with other nutritious crops such as millet, sorghum and cassava.
This also means that your plate of ugali will equally taste differently from the typical serving you are currently used to eat over the years.
[caption caption="A serving of ugali"]
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According to Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) for Crops and Policy Intervention Richard Lesiyampe the move will see the country stop over-relying on maize.
Maize is considered Kenya staple food with ugali, githeri, and muthokoi that use maize as a basic ingredient being popular dishes in different parts of the country.
Kenya is estimated to produce 40 million 90kg bags of maize annually out of which 30 million bags are consumed in the same period.
If the policy turns out a success, consumption of maize grains in the country will be reduced by 20 million bags annually.
The policy also aims at opening up economies of other parts of the country that grow other cereals, creating new jobs and providing food security and nutrition.
"A growing population and change in climate has necessitated the change in strategy," PS Lesiyampe noted.
[caption caption="chapati"]
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The reported fall armyworm invasion in the country is likely to affect maize production and may have informed the need to diversify with a Brazilian farmer having termed the pest's invasion as "a marriage without a divorce."
