Collection: Kenya

In Kenya, hot peppers are important cash and food crops. Smallholders grow African bird’s eye chili (pilipili hoho / pili pili), cayenne-like long reds, and Scotch bonnet/habanero-type Capsicum chinense, alongside sweet peppers.

African bird’s eye and cayenne types are exported dried or as mash for international hot-sauce and pharmaceutical markets; projects also promote bird’s eye and habanero for export. In Kenyan cuisine, pili pili mbuzi (goat pepper stew) and various meat and bean dishes rely on fresh green and red chilies.

Pilpel hoho (bell) and pilipili (hot) are chopped into kachumbari (tomato–onion–chili salad) served with grilled meats and ugali. Pili pili ya kukaanga, a fried chili-onion-tomato relish, is common with fish and chapati. Scotch bonnet and habanero-type chilies increasingly appear in commercial Kenyan hot sauces, reflecting both export and domestic demand for higher-heat cultivars.