Kenya’s maize basket turns brown as drought threatens to undo food security gains
Prolonged drought and erratic rainfall have devastated maize crops in Kenya's North Rift region, threatening national food security. Farmers are reporting massive losses, leading to concerns about future hunger and economic instability for households dependent on subsistence farming.
Why it matters
The failure of the maize harvest in a key agricultural region highlights the vulnerability of food supply chains to climate change in East Africa.
Poor rainfall dries up maize crop in Kenya's grain basket
It is a dry, windy evening in Chemomoroch, near Moi’s Bridge, and Jacob Kiprono can only stare in disbelief at his 10-acre maize farm.
The crop that should have been standing tall and filling its cobs is instead drying in the field.
Some plants are already brown, while others remain deceptively green but carry little or no grain.
For Kiprono, a farmer who has cultivated maize for more than three decades, the sight is deeply unsettling.
“I anticipate a huge loss. As you can see, almost 60 per cent of the crop has dried up. I have not witnessed this phenomenon in this area for a long time,” he says.
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