By Wanja Waweru
It is now thought that part of the reason Kenya’s maize harvest is declining is the growing demand for roasted and boiled maize in the nation.
Since the majority of it is now consumed while green, which means it was either served roasted or boiled and eaten as a snack, the 2021/2022 crop year had poor harvests, according to Gerald Masila, Executive Director of the East African Grain Council (EAGC).
Experts are having trouble sleeping as they consider ways to increase the yield of dry maize, a delicacy that is currently consumed in large quantities in most urban settlement schemes.
Masila adds that farmers in the North and Central Rift regions reduced their farming acreage as a result of a lack of fertilizer and the effects of climate change, which will prevent even ongoing harvesting in some areas from producing.
“Even with the expected harvest our estimation is that we might be at 60 per cent of a good normal harvest but still face a deficit in the coming year which could go as high as 35 per cent”, he said during a stakeholder validation forum at a Nairobi hotel.
