Audio By Vocalize
The vast maize fields that usually paint Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties green have turned an alarming shade of brown.
Under an unrelenting sun, withered stalks stand lifeless across farms that only months ago promised another bumper harvest. Cracks run through the dry earth, streams have receded, and anxious farmers walk silently through their fields, watching most of the entire season's investment disappear before their eyes.
Trans Nzoia County Department of Agriculture estimates that over 50,000 of the 250,000 acres under maize cultivation have withered, threatening the country's broader food security.
Bungoma, is one of Kenya's principal maize-producing counties, with about 97 per cent of farming households cultivating maize as both their staple food and primary source of income.
