Potato farmers to get quality seeds, increase profits

Potato farmers from Nakuru and Narok counties during a farmers' field day at Agrico East Africa potato farm in Kabarak. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

For a long time now, potato farmers in the country have been facing numerous challenges such as poor quality seeds, lack of information on crop nutrition programmes, restricted access to finance and unreliable markets. But thanks to a partnership among industry stakeholders, this situation is bound to change for the benefit of the ever-resilient farmers.

Yara East Africa has entered a partnership focused on strengthening the potato value chain in Kenya, with an aim of providing reliable economic opportunities for potato farmers. According to the National Potato Council of Kenya, potatoes are the second-most significant food and economic crop after maize.  Around 800,000 smallholder farmers cultivate the crop, resulting in downstream employment of 2.7 million people, and contributing more than over Sh50 billion to the economy. The average output is 10 tonnes per hectare.