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President William Ruto recently pledged to enhance Governor Johnson Sakaja's Dishi na County school feeding program by introducing a machine capable of producing one million chapatis daily.

While this goal may seem ambitious, one Kenyan innovator believes he has the solution.

Edwin Mwendo, a skilled jua kali artisan, has designed a chapati-making machine that could help fulfill this promise.

His machine is built from metal and comes as a complete system, featuring a dough mixer, a presser that flattens the dough into chapati shapes, and a cooker.

Mwendo’s machine is capable of producing 3,000 chapatis per day, meaning that 2,333 such machines would be needed to meet Ruto’s target.

Mwendo initially started in the chapati business by making them manually.

However, as demand grew, he sought a way to increase efficiency and reduce labor costs.

His inspiration came from a pizza press machine, which uses a handle to flatten dough before baking.

He applied the same concept to chapati-making, creating a machine that speeds up production significantly.

“If pizza can be pressed by a machine, why not chapatis? My machine can produce 300 chapatis per hour, making large-scale production possible,” Mwendo explained.

Mwendo suggests that rather than relying on a single large machine, the government could distribute multiple smaller machines to schools across Nairobi.

This decentralized approach would ensure that each school produces its own chapatis efficiently.

“If 2,000 schools each had one of these machines making 3,000 chapatis daily, the one million target would be met,” he said.

While Mwendo did not disclose the price of his machine, he emphasized that investing in local manufacturing would be more cost-effective than importing foreign alternatives.

Beyond chapati-making, Mwendo believes Kenya’s jua kali sector has the potential to drive industrial growth if given the right support.

He urges the government to provide funding and training to local innovators, helping them refine and expand their creations.

“Many young people in the jua kali sector have brilliant ideas. With proper support, we can produce better machines than imported ones,” he stated.

As President Ruto works toward fulfilling his chapati promise, innovators like Mwendo offer a practical path forward. Whether the government will tap into local expertise remains to be seen.