After struggling with diseases, pests, erratic rains and low prices for the last three years, a rising number of Kenyan farmers are giving up on maize. The farmers, in particular those who have been growing the crop on large-scale in the breadbasket regions of Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia and Bungoma, are turning to other crops, among them sugarcane and horticulture. It is a new trend that is threatening production of maize, the staple food of the East African nation. Last year, armyworms and low rains were the biggest threat to the production of the crop. The large farmers had to spend more money on spraying the crop to eradicate the past, pushing up production costs.