Reporter's Diary: Kenya's looming maize crisis

From a distance, everything looked normal.

Driving through Kenya's North Rift, I saw what I had come to expect from the country's famous breadbasket, endless fields of maize stretching toward the horizon, their green stalks moving gently in the wind.

But the closer I got, the more that picture of abundance began to fall apart.

I had traveled through parts of Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia, spending time with farmers to understand what this season's maize harvest would look like.

What I found was deeply unsettling.

Behind the green fields were maize cobs that were small, poorly developed and, in some cases, almost completely empty.

For farmers who had spent months waiting for the harvest, the reality was painful: the maize had grown, but the grain had not.

When production in this region falls sharply, the effects can travel hundreds of kilometers.

From farms in the Rift Valley to maize mills, markets and ultimately the kitchens of millions of Kenyan households.

Kenya already consumes an estimated 70 million to 75 million 90-kilogram bags of maize every year.

Now, the government says the country could be facing a deficit of about 25 million bags.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe says the government has already made arrangements to import maize to bridge the gap and prevent the country from running short of its staple food.

But before the government began talking about imports, the warning signs were already visible here in the fields. 'I have nothing from my farm' One of the farmers I met, Victor Kiprop, walked me through his maize field.

At first glance, the plants looked like they were doing reasonably well.