Potatoes to become booming business in Kenya

Mr Wainaina said there is a need for concerted efforts from the government and private sector to set up agro industries if Kenya is to attain the Vision 2030 status of a newly industrialised country.

“We must begin by adding value to farm produce at the villages, “Mr Wainaina said adding that there is a big market for food, locally and outside.

Mr Wainaina argued that a cooling facility (which can keep potatoes fresh for up to three years) and a processing factory would enable farmers to collect and store produce then release it as per market demand at stable year-round prices instead of the prevailing situation where prices are determined by seasonal availability.

The Ksh 500 million ($7.4 million) factory and cold storage unit is the first of its kind in East Africa and marks the first phase of an ambitious plan to venture into commercial production and marketing of fresh produce that will knock out middlemen from the marketing of potatoes.

The cold storage is designed to hold about 6,000 tonnes (or 60,000 bags) of potatoes at any given time.

Midlands Ltd. has also introduced four new potato varieties bred in Netherlands.

The varieties are being tested by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service.

They will help alleviate the shortage of quality varieties, which has remained a major problem in potato farming.

Kenya has only one variety, Tigoni, developed by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, for fries and processing.

The shortage of the seed has forced farmers to plant their own from previous harvests leading to poor yields.

Potato seed multiplication centres countrywide have collapsed, causing a slump in production a situation also blamed on the allocation of the Agricultural Development Corporation farms in Molo and other areas to private developers.

The farms used to produce 70 per cent of seeds before they were phased out.