A trader displays potatoes at Riosiri market in Kisii County. The traders who source the potatoes from Molo in Nakuru County says there is excess supply of the produce in the local market pushing down the prices. A bucket of potatoes retails at sh 200. [Sammy Omingo,Standard]

Drought and erratic rainfall patterns caused by climate change have drastically affected potato production and food security. Speaking during the National Potato Day in Nyandarua County, Dr Moses Nyongesa, a researcher at Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro), said climate change had compounded an already worse situation.

He noted that 1.8 million Kenyans are facing starvation and this is projected to reach two million in the near future. To guarantee maximum potato yields, Nyongesa noted that there is need to produce potato varieties that can withstand the pressures of climate change and are not so demanding in terms of input, to minimise the cost of production. Dr Nyongesa said the sector has been reusing seeds that were developed in the previous years instead of new seeds that are resilient to climate shocks.

“To increase productivity, we need varieties that can withstand these pressures for the farmers to become resilient,” said Nyongesa.

Kalro is already producing climate smart potato varieties that mature fast, are disease and pest resistant. Under the Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Project, potato is one of the value chains covered in 24 counties.

Bulking sites

The project seeks to achieve three wins which are increased productivity, improving farmer resilience and reduced greenhouse emissions.

During the event that was organised by Nyandarua County in partnership with The Standard Plc and aired on KTN News Live, it was noted that one of the ways to increase the availability of seeds to farmers is to establish bulking sites that farmers can access easily.

“When we do bulking of seeds and registering seed entrepreneurs to make investments with the support from Kalro, we increase the availability of quality seed,” noted Nyongesa.



Key traits such as late blight and virus resistance, the relatively rapid development of tubers, and tolerance of heat, drought, or saline soils will make these potato varieties increasingly important for smallholder farmers, helping them overcome challenges such as limited land.

Seed multiplication plant

Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia, who was the chief guest at the event, said with support from the European Union, the county is constructing a Sh117 million seed multiplication plant.

The facility will help in producing quality seeds that are resilient to the pressures of climate change and diseases. Kimemia revealed that though Nyandarua County is number one in potato production, it is only at 30 per cent productivity.

“In a county leading in potatoes, producing 550,000 metric tonnes per year and bringing Sh13 billion into the county and almost 100,000 farmers in the industry, we produce three times of what we are currently, from 30 to 60 per cent per hectare, that tells you the potential food basket possibility in the county,” said Kimemia.



The government is constructing a cold storage plant in Ol Kalou and a processing plant to tap into export markets like Congo and Uganda.

“We will be leading a delegation to Dubai, in February next year for potato growers to market the Nyandarua potatoes. To stay afloat, we must think outside the box,” said Kimemia.

Dr Dinah Borus from the International Potato Centre said one of the challenges existing in the potato value chain is that production is low and the quality of seeds is poor.

“High-end restaurants are bringing in potatoes from outside simply because they want quality. Seedlings are a major challenge because of the unavailability of clean seeds,” said Borus.

She said farmer organisations can lead aggregation centres to ensure the standard is quality and farmer organisations can also bring in incentives for farmers to bring quality potatoes for a direct market.