Lack of market leaves farmers in North Rift stuck in the middle

By Titus Too

Lack of good markets for agricultural produce immediately after harvesting has denied farmers in the North Rift an opportunity reap better profits from agri-business.

Stakeholders in the sector have raised concern that middlemen have for some time now taken advantage to exploit farmers who toil to achieve good harvests.

They also want county governments in potato-producing regions of the country to enforce a legal notice requiring limitation of packaging the produce in 110 kgs to shield producers from exploitation.

They noted that brokers and traders rule the market by demanding packaging of potatoes in extended bags, thus exploiting farmers.

In a presentation during a Kenya National Farmers Federation (Kenaff) and Kenya Agricultural Value Chain Enterprise Project (KAVES) stakeholders’ forum, Grace Rono said there is still a major challenge in potato packaging in the North Rift region.

Ms Rono, who is an official of Kenaff, said the federation has helped Irish potato farmers to embrace new production techniques, including use of certified seeds and better farming methods to achieve good yields, but traders still exploit them. 

“The extended bags can carry potatoes that could be packaged in up to three bags of the standard 110 Kgs, which could enable farmers reap better returns,” said Rono.

Kenaff Uasin Gishu branch Chairman Musa Barno, Treasurer Ruth Kemboi, United States Agency for International Development (USaid) representatives and Kenya Horticultural Competitiveness Project (KHCP) officials also attended the forum in Eldoret.

The participants urged county governments to enforce the legal notice from the sub-county level by imposing penalties on those who use extended bags in packaging potatoes.

They claimed some traders who export potatoes to neighbouring countries often repackage the products into smaller bags and get more profits after exploiting farmers.

 They also advised farmers not to single-source the market for their produce but instead aggregate their products, make standard packaging and sell in groups to avoid exploitation.

Rono also urged farmers to venture into production of Irish potato seeds.