Hope for potato farmers as Nakuru County Government promises better storage services

Nakuru,

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

KNA by Anne Mwale

Nakuru County Government has announced that it has increased investments in physical infrastructure such as local feeder roads and cold storage facilities to ease distribution and reduce post-harvest losses in the potato sub sector.

 The devolved unit’s administration has disclosed that it has put in place policy and regulatory environment aimed at encouraging potato farmers to form cooperatives that will enable them to benefit from economies of scale, and to obtain a better bargaining position.

 County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Leonard Bor assured potato farmers that Governor Susan Kihika’s government was working with industry stakeholders to create storage services and help to improve their profitability and livelihoods across the region.

 "Storage has been an issue for many years and has caused losses among our potato farmers. We are ensuring that we get proper storage for their produce and cushion them from erratic price fluctuations," said Mr Bor. 

The CECM added that advisory services were being offered to farmers with an aim to improve agriculture.

Speaking when he hosted a team from Kenya National Farmers' Federation (KENAFF) and the Nakuru Potato Cooperative Union Limited (NPCU) at the County headquarters Mr Bor indicated that agricultural officers were conducting research on best practices to boost potato farming in the region.

"We are engaging the national government to restore and empower farmer support institutions. We want to create a one-stop solution for farmers' needs – from seeds and agricultural implements to the market," he added.

With lack of proper storage and markets for their potatoes becoming a major challenge over the years, farmers have been making losses with most of their harvest rotting due to lack of storage space.

The CECM said the meeting with KENAFF and NPCU was targeted to establish a collaborative partnership with the County Government, on the implementation of the Livelihoods and Right to Food (LRF) programme.

 The 5-year Swedish International Development Cooperation funded LRF project aims to contribute to the realisation of the right to food for women, men, young people and children in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by 2027, through enhanced resilience and strengthened and equitable food systems within communities.

 “The programme is very significant in providing organised, empowered, assertive and resilient communities with sustainable livelihood opportunities. The County administration will continue to have engagements to also improve the potato value chain in the county,” added the CECM.

Mr Bor observed that the County Government had rolled out several programmes aligned to climate-smart innovations targeting more than 20,000 small-holder farmers in the County to benefit from technologies that will help them increase potato production both for domestic consumption and for export.

He said the County administration was working to equip agricultural extension officers working with smallholder farmers to train the farmers on modern farming practices that will mitigate against risks like drought, floods, climate-induced pests and diseases.

The CECM regretted that lack of certified seeds and poor marketing strategies have continued to hamper the lucrative potato trade in Nakuru County adding that scarcity of certified potato seeds in Kenya had stagnated production of the crop at seven tons per hectare against a potential of 40 tons.

 While observing that Kenya’s potato seed demand was at 30,000 tons annually, Mr Bor lamented that Nakuru which is the second largest producer of the crop in Kenya after Nyandarua County, was now producing a mere 6,700 tons, with most farmers recycling crops from the previous season to use as seed, a move she blamed for the shortage that the country faces.

 In Nakuru, there are about 20,000 farmers growing potatoes on more than 38,000 acres of land with a total production of 160,000 tonnes of assorted varieties being grown.

He urged farmers to buy the right seeds if they hope to have a competitive edge in the market.

 “The quality of potato seeds is critical because bad seeds will give you poor yields and this will not fetch you good money in the market. As second in production of potatoes in the country, Nakuru County should deliberate on how to get farmers to plant the right varieties for the market,” said the CECM. 

 Mr Bor who was flanked by Chief Officer for Agriculture Newton Mwaura indicated that the County Government was forging public-private partnerships aimed at supporting farmers to access new markets, both domestically and internationally, which can provide them with better prices and more stable incomes.

He added that the county government will continue to focus on the development of agriculture and the creation of new opportunities for local farmers adding that under her leadership the devolved unit was supporting activities aligned to climate-smart innovations to ensure that farmers adopt climate-smart agriculture practices and technologies which are geared towards cushioning them against the challenges they are facing. 

 Mr Bor said they were using various forums, including farmers’ field days, to disseminate information to farmers to address climate change challenges with an ultimate goal of translating the information, knowledge and new technologies into increased incomes for smallholder farmers and alleviation of poverty.

The CECM observed that many potato farmers who had adopted climate-smart agriculture have been experiencing challenges like access to certified seeds, pests and diseases and soil-borne diseases and said the County was collaborating with research institutions in coming up with solutions that supports potato smallholder farmers to be able to tackle the risks that they face like pests, a decline of soil fertility, and diseases which are very rampant in the lucrative potato sector.

 He went on: “We are promoting adoption of practices and technologies that will be able to support farmers to conduct potato farming in a climate-smart way by focusing on environmental conservation.”

Initiatives by the County government to improve potato farming, he stated, were addressing the entire chain from soil testing, soil management, quality seeds, best husbandry, to marketing in addition to improved value addition including starch and animal feed production.

 Mr Bor said the drive to bolster the potato sub sector includes making farming attractive to the youth through embracing modern farming technologies, as well as addressing post-harvest losses.

 “We are working with various partners in both the public and private sectors to offer expert services in the potato value chain among other initiatives focused towards addressing food security by using the potato,” he said.

 In Kenya, potatoes are the second most consumed staple food after maize. However, it is laden with a myriad of challenges such as lack of certified seed, lack of training in good agricultural practices for optimal potato production, access to modern technology, access to markets, and poor uptake solutions geared towards reducing the potential impact the sector has towards climate change.

Potatoes are also Kenya’s second most produced crop after maize. On average, 1.35 million tonnes of potatoes are produced in Kenya annually.

Potato production involves over 790,000 smallholder farmers. The crop is grown on about 123,000 hectares of land.

Potato is grown by about 800,000 farmers spread across several counties which including, Bomet, Bungoma, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kericho, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Meru, Muranga, Nakuru, Narok, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu and West Pokot.

 A report by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) reveals that over the years, potato yields have been declining. In the last 10 years, the yield has hit a low of 12.4 tonnes per hectare, which is far below the global average of 21 tonnes per hectare.

“This has been attributed to several problems with the most important being the high incidence of pests and diseases, some of which are seed- and soil-borne,” states the report.

Courtesy; KNA