Maize

Maize flour is cooked into ugali – a stiff porridge that is the basis of almost every meal in Kenya.

An annual grass of the grass family (Poaceae), growing to 2–3 m, with a thick, solid stem and long, broad leaves. Male tassels grow at the top of the plant, while female cobs wrapped in husks, with long silks, form in the leaf axils. The grain is rich in starch and is used as food, animal feed and an industrial raw material. Maize was domesticated in Mexico about 9,000 years ago and was brought to East Africa by the Portuguese.

Significance in the country

Maize is Kenya’s most important crop and is grown by most rural families; ugali is eaten with sukuma wiki greens, beans or meat, and a boiled mixture of maize and beans is the popular githeri. The largest fields lie in the western highlands, known as Kenya’s breadbasket.

Where it grows

Grown throughout the farming areas of the country, most of all in Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties in the Rift Valley Province, and also in the Western Province, Nyanza and the central highlands.

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