On a recent visit to Uganda, I noted a curious item on the menu named Kenyan dumpling. Closer scrutiny indicated it was a fancy name for Ugali. In another hotel in Kenya, the same Ugali was called corn cake.
Why is ugali getting such fancy names? And where did the name ugali come from?
The new names for ugali are entrepreneurs’ bold attempts to internationalise Kenya’s staple food.
The names dumpling and corn cake attract international attention. We do the same with our names. We prefer to be called John instead of Kamau. We prefer Truphosa instead of Kwamboka or Gertrude in place of Wawuda.
The ‘international’ part of our names ostensibly make us more marketable though it invites ridicule at times. A good example is the name Rufus, a common British nickname for someone with red hair. The Kenyan Rufus I know has very black hair. Where is my classmate Rufus Akaliche?
Internationalising ugali is long overdue. Food is a big industry with lots of money. It’s time we got a piece of that market by selling something to the world. Americans have their hamburger, Italian pasta, West African fufu and Japanese sushi.
We need to go even beyond ugali and internationalise other local foods. What name should we give mukimo, muthokoi, or kimanga? Or should we keep these names as they are?
Every Kenyan community has its unique meals with no competitors in the world. Who else mixes blood and milk like the Maasai? Why can’t we make that a global delicacy?
Price elasticity of demand of food
Such internationalisation would put us on the global map and create jobs. Why can’t we find our traditional foods in other parts of the world the same way we find Chinese, Vietnamese or Nigerian cuisine?
The beauty about food is that you are guaranteed a market, the price elasticity of demand of food is very low, meaning that even if the price goes up, we still eat. You can postpone buying a car, but not eating.
While the name Ugali is endangered like our traditional names, its market is still secure because of our cultures. It will take a long time before western foods become staple in Kenya.
Why not take what we have and make money out of it? We could even be more radical and globalise our communities and have Taita restaurants, Kamba restaurants, and Luo restaurants for example.
Though loudly called tribal identities, they could be sources of economic identity.
XN Iraki; [email protected]; Twitter: @Hustlenomics7
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