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The Ugali Saga: A Better Perspective PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mwarang'ethe   
Tuesday, 06 January 2009

The cost and shortage of ugali flour has captured the attention of Kenyans - and rightly so - in recent days. Now, the question: have we been discussing the real issues? No, because many Kenyans are simply unaware of them - this includes our politicians and journalists.  (I will not discuss hoarding, much as we know it is an issue).

 

The real issues can be discussed under the following headings:

(i)    The nutrition question.

(ii)   The milling technology question.

(iii)    The quantity question.

The Nutrition Question

There are three types of ugali flour:

(a)   Whole maize meal.

(b)   Partially de-germed maize meal.

(c)    Fully de-germed maize meal (i.e. super sifted meal).

From the nutrition point of view, wholemeal is best: medical people recommend it over the others. Aas many of you are aware, most Kenyans and especially, the educated (read brainwashed - by what Bob Marley called the brainwash education) and urbanites prefer the full de-germed. Why? The flour is white and therefore to be preferred; also, since almost all fibre has been removed, it is easier to digest.

Yes, it is easier to digest because the fibre, as well as the calcium, iron, niacin, riboflavin and fat - indeed almost every vital nutrient - has been removed. Furthermore, the sifted meal lacks two vital types of proteins, i.e. globulins and glutelins, but has zein, a poorer source of protein. So, we have adopted extremely poor eating habits in the name of sophistication. This matters, considering that for over 70% of us maize meal is our staple.

The Milling Technology Question

Sifted maize meal (full de-germed), is most expensive to produce, for it requires very expensive meals called roll mills; wholemeal, on the other hand, is cheapest.

 Since roll mills are very expensive, only foreigners and a few very rich Kenyans can afford them. If, however, we had adopted the habit of eating wholemeal, we would have allowed Wanjiku to mill and sell us her maize; we might have had hundreds of small maize mills owned by Kenyans. Since we have adopted the habit of eating sifted maize meal, we have entrusted maize milling to foreigners who use imported and expensive technology, whereas wholemeal technology is cheap, and available in Kenya as well as other third-world countries. Have you ever wondered why Africa keeps getting poorer? Stop.

The Quantity Question

Suppose we produce one metric tonne of maize every year.  Suppose also that we consume a metric tonne of maize every year. If that were the case, we would always produce enough maize meal for our nation. The equation changes when we factor in the varieties of maize meal.

If we mill one metric tonne of maize under the wholemeal technology, we get back flour to the tune of 98%. If we use de-germed meal technology, around 80% of our initial input ends up on the table. Under the fully de-germed technology, we get back only around 60%. Simply put, under the sifted maize technology that we have adopted, we are guaranteed a  40% deficit. This means that we have to import the 40% we lose under this technology: after buying roll mills from foreigners, we must hand them further cash to make up the deficit our use of their mills has created. This is madness.

 More about the fully de-germed

Under this technology, we lose about 40% of our maize harvest because the by-products are used for animal feed and oil production. Much of the animal feed ends up being exported to the West to feed their animals, although some is used locally as well. Further, most Kenyans cannot afford the meat so produced.  Even more interesting: only 10% of the energy/food content of these by products is utilised by these animals - 90% of the food content in these by-products is simply lost for good.

Conclusions

What now? Kenya needs a different policy, one that encourages Kenyans to eat wholemeal. If you've read this carefully, the advantages of doing so are self evident. Are policy makers even interested in such a radical shift in policy? No, because when the big foreign millers come to invest as foreign investors, they give the so called policy makers a share in the plants (remember Safaricom? );  the policy makers are accomplices. Since Wanjiku will not give shares to these petty elites (I have nothing but contempt for the African elite), she can take her one way ticket to hell. The moral extends to other sectors of the economy; a wise person can see why Africa sinks further into poverty by the day, despite our best efforts.

We need a new way of thinking. It doesn't matter whether it is Kibaki, Raila, Kalonzo or Uhuru who leads, so long as we are blind to small, but, very critical issues that contribute to poverty or wealth creation of any nation. Let the real debate begin.

 

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hmmm
written by trrr , January 07, 2009
Mwarang'ethe,
Great article, and it should really be every Kenyans duty to think hard about this. Food security ought properly to be a central concern of our government's. It is not.

But we do not have to keep blaming nefarious foreign interests for everything. These mills are owned by Kenyans, and it is our national attitude and the disservice of Kenyans in civil society ( especially the media) and its commerical interests that preclude development on many of these fronts.

Consider the analogous debate on local brews, or the war on Keroche, or local garments and you see why it is a Kenyan problem, not a foreign one. Now the government is looking to break monopolies and we are enraged, we want our freedom to choose monopolies.
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