decolonize your palate with millet, sorghum, and teff
ALEX KANYI
In addition to Fort Jesus towering out from the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese legacy of slavery lives on today through maize and corn.
The Portuguese were one of the earliest colonial nations to dock along the East African coast. They didn’t stay as long as the Germans, British, or Italians, but their indelible mark remains impressed upon our daily lives.
Maize was first grown at the coast in small gardens, mixed with tubers and vegetables. It was not until British occupation that maize took center stage as a serious food and cash crop. The British grew corn primarily for the starch; a few grew it for animal feed.
A series of experiments eventually found a strain suited to the climate. Trans-Nzoia county in western Kenya was the preferred seedbed for the variety. Every household in Kitale was stashed with this new strain of corn.
Maize farming among Kenyans proliferated so quickly that it threatened what was otherwise a white settler business. This upsurge led to the passing of a law aimed at devaluing African farmers’ produce in favour of that of the white settlers.
With plenty of maize to go around, only one thing was bound to happen: the evolution of ugali—stiff bread made from cornmeal cooked in boiling water. Ugali had been traditionally made from millet and sorghum, but due to new mechanized western milling technology, maize could be ground into fine flour. It was touted as a mark of progress. People who ate maize ugali boasted of sophistication, estranging those who ate millet ugali. The fad caught on. In no time, maize became the staple food in Kenya.
Millet and sorghum were left behind, dismissed as food of the past. Sprawling maize farms were glorified as beacons of hope, God’s favour for prosperity. Industries grew, population soared, tracts of land were reclaimed, trade thrived, and life continued.
Climate change has affected how crops grow. Although there are varieties that are more resistant to drier weather, maize does well under adequate rainfall and sunshine. In the past two decades, rainfall patterns have been unpredictable—too much rain, then no rain at all. This has decimated maize farming and threatened Kenya’s food security.
The government often imports maize to supplement the deficit. There is insufficient supply of fertilizer and claims of cartels elongating the supply chain, making it expensive for farmers to get this crucial input. Transportation of cheap maize from neighbouring countries and poor pricing strategies by the National Cereals and Produce Board further ostracize farmer and eater alike.
Photo by Yusuf Wachira
Maize is fast becoming an untenable crop, not worth the trouble. A growing number of farmers from the maize belts of Trans-Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties are abandoning maize for other lucrative crops, like avocados and bananas.
The maize flour price has hit $1.50 per kilo in a country where the majority live on less than a dollar a day. Isn’t it time we decolonized our palates with other cereals that don’t burn a hole in our pockets? Must our ugali be white? Millet, sorghum, and teff are far more arable than maize.
Millet—native to our regional highlands—is a draught-resistant cereal that can withstand conditions that maize cannot. It has four types: finger, pearl, proso (or hog), and foxtail millet. Proso and finger millet are planted in areas with low soil fertility and low to medium rainfall. It takes only 2-4 months to mature.
Besides being a gluten-free grain, millet boasts high amounts of magnesium for muscles and nerves, calcium for bones, iron for hemoglobin, zinc for the immune system, potassium for blood pressure, and Vitamin B for the body’s energy reserves. It’s also an antioxidant. Research shows that regular consumption of millet reduces chances of breast cancer. With these benefits, it’s no wonder that millet was found entombed with the Egyptian pharaohs!
Sorghum has a number of species, but only one is fit for human consumption. The rest are for animal feed. It does well in soils that are of moderate temperature, less rain, and low altitude. It can regrow after stalk-cutting. Sorghum is easy to farm and high in energy.
In ideal conditions, sorghum will compete head-to-head with maize in fodder production. Sorghum is also gluten-free, high in fiber, good for maintaining blood sugar levels for diabetics, and is a rich antioxidant. It has copper, which helps in the absorption of iron. Sorghum is also used in making ethanol and biofuels.
Teff is a grass cereal from Ethiopia. Teff is the most important cereal in Ethiopia and makes the staple, injera—a sour, flat bread eaten with vegetable or meat stews. Teff is grown like millet. Its adaptability favours nearly all the climatic conditions in Kenya. A handful of seeds can grow in a large area. Teff is rich in zinc, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium. It is also packed with manganese for optimal cognitive function and arthritis, phosphorus for the teeth, and sodium for body enzymes and muscle contractions. It is gluten-free.
There is no reason Kenyans must insist on maize. The government should not plant maize again in the Galana Kulalu irrigation scheme, after the first attempt failed. Our indigenous crops are the key to regional food security.
Article image by Jbreman
