Farmers opts for disease resistant potato variety

Irish Ambassador to Kenya Fionnuala Quinlan chats with potato farmers in Nyandarua during her visit last week.

A three-year partnership between the Irish government and Nyandarua County has helped introduce six new potato varieties that officials and farmers say are better than the traditional variety known as Shangi. The move is expected to help meet potato demand as the county prepares to set up a processing factory.

The new varieties, officials said, mature faster, are disease tolerant, and are crispier, which makes them good for processing into chips and potato snacks.