Kitale's market is the commercial heart of Trans-Nzoia County, one of Kenya's most productive agricultural regions. The stalls spill out along the streets surrounding the main market building, with maize, beans, potatoes, fresh vegetables, and fruit piled high on tables and spread out on cloths on the ground.
It is a working market, not a tourist attraction, and it is most interesting early in the morning when farmers from the surrounding countryside bring in the day's produce. The grain section in particular gives a sense of scale: Trans-Nzoia produces a significant proportion of Kenya's maize harvest, and the sacks piled against the walls and loaded onto lorries represent the agricultural wealth of the region. The surrounding streets have hardware shops, tailors, and butchers. A meal of ugali and sukuma wiki with grilled meat from one of the stalls around the market perimeter costs next to nothing.