(the maize) has to be white

Despite being here for a month, white maize (corn) still intrigues me a little, having grown up encountering only yellow corn.

But here in Kenya, the corn in the markets and the cornmeal and corn flour sold in stores is all white. I was talking about this today with the woman who runs the grocery store I frequent. She told me that yellow maize is not only viewed as inferior to white maize, but it actually has a negative stigma attached to it. It is associated with the maize from food aid shipments during food shortages, which is yellow (presumably imported from countries with yellow maize). As a result, yellow maize is seen as something for poor people. 

I did some reading online and found that some scientists are seeking to biofortify maize with vitamin A, to address vitamin A deficiencies in poor African communities that do not have access to natural sources of vitamin A, like vegetables, due to cost and seasonal availability. Kind of like golden rice, which is being explored in Asia to tackle the same problem. Unfortunately, the biofortified maize is yellow, and people don't like yellow maize.

The grand solution: orange maize.