From Christmas table to Sh30 piece: The rise of ‘kuku mwitu’
Whenever John Okumu heard Jingle Bells playing on a local radio station, he knew Christmas was drawing near. The season carried a promise that rarely came at any other time of the year: chicken on the family table.
Growing up, from January to November, slaughtering a chicken was uncommon in his home despite his father keeping poultry. The birds were part of the family’s livelihood and were not routinely consumed.
Back then, chicken was reserved for Christmas, weddings and other special occasions. For many low-income families, it was a prized delicacy rarely found in the daily menu.
Mr Okumu remembers waiting eagerly for the day his family would finally prepare chicken. But even then, there were rules governing which parts each family member could eat. Children were given wings and legs while some of the most coveted pieces were reserved for adults.
“I always wanted to eat ‘firigisi’ (gizzard) but I never got the chance. We were told that the firigisi was meant for the elders,” Mr Okumu recalls.
A vendor grills chicken at a roadside eatery in Wayside, Kisumu, on August 30, 2026.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
The experience stayed with him. As a child, he made a quiet promise to himself that once he became independent, chicken would no longer be an occasional luxury but part of his regular diet.
“I told myself that when I grew up, I would eat chicken every Friday,” he says.
Today, that childhood wish has become a weekly ritual.
“I must eat firigisi every Friday in my house. Currently, I can buy one for Sh30 if I do not want to buy a whole chicken,” he adds.
Mr Okumu’s experience reflects a changing food culture in parts of Kisumu County, where chicken, particularly ‘kuku mwitu’ that is sold in small portions, is increasingly finding its way into households that once regarded it as a luxury.
In informal settlements and busy trading centres, vendors sell fried chicken in portions costing as little as Sh30. Customers can buy individual pieces instead of an entire chicken, allowing families and individuals to enjoy the meat without spending hundreds of shillings at once.
The shift has quietly transformed the place of chicken on the household menu. Mercy Akinyi, a Kisumu resident, says chicken has become a regular feature of her family’s meals and is increasingly competing with other commonly consumed meats.
A woman deep-fries pieces of chicken at the Nakuru bus terminus on June 29, 2026. The delicacy sells for between Sh50 and Sh150, depending on the size of each piece.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
“Chicken has become cheap compared with beef and pork. When I buy chicken worth Sh120, it is enough for my family. We do not even see the need to add vegetables,” she says.
For households operating on tight budgets, buying food in small quantities has become a way of life. A customer can walk to a roadside stall with Sh30, Sh50 or Sh100 and leave with ready-to-eat chicken, turning what was once an occasional treat into an accessible meal.
The growing number of fried chicken stalls in Kisumu has also opened a market for poultry farmers and small-scale traders.
Joan Atieno, who sells fried chicken in Nyamasaria, says demand has increased as more customers embrace chicken as a regular meal.
“To meet the demand, poultry farmers rear broilers because they mature quickly. Most of the chicken we fry and sell is broiler chicken,” she says.
At her stall, customers can buy chicken that has already been prepared and is ready for consumption. Many choose to eat at the premises.
The business has become part of Kisumu’s growing informal food economy, with traders buying poultry, preparing it and selling it in smaller portions to customers throughout the day.
Ms Atieno says she can make a profit of about Sh300 from a single chicken after preparing and selling it in portions.
The availability of smaller portions has also changed the way consumers approach chicken. Ms Atieno says the price of a whole chicken ranges from Sh500 to Sh1,000, depending on its size and type.
“We buy broilers for about Sh500, while local chicken, commonly known as kienyeji, can cost up to Sh1,000. However, we rarely buy kienyeji because of its higher price. Broilers are more affordable and make better business sense for us,” she says.
Instead of waiting for Christmas, a wedding or another major family occasion to slaughter a bird, customers can now buy a wing, leg or gizzard whenever they have the money.
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