Mr Mukuria Ndegwa has been farming potatoes on his quarter-acre land in Elburgon, Nakuru County, for years.
The land is one of his most treasured assets, a source of cash and food for his family. And the weather in Elburgon makes potatoes the only crop he can grow to stand a chance of making any returns.
But he is not the only potato farmer in this region or country, meaning that even in seasons when he thought he would gain the most due to high yields, he ended up being frustrated.
“Sometimes, during peak season, when we harvest a lot of potatoes (up to 40 bags in a three-month period), the markets fill up and brokers buy at low prices of up to Sh500 per bag,” he said.
That has always been the delicate balance for potato farmers, he told the Nation – either bumper harvests with plummeting market prices or meagre production with favourable prices.
Mr Mukuria’s case epitomises the plight of thousands of potato farmers in Kenya. They always suffer at the hands of merciless brokers, who buy produce at throwaway prices due to the lack of proper market policies.
Yet as potato farmers lack a market for their produce – about 2.5 million tonnes annually – outlets such as US-based fast-food chain KFC have been allowed to import potatoes over the past decade.
KFC, which imports potatoes from outside the Comesa market, has refused to disclose the standards it wants Kenyan farmers to meet.
Asked by the Nation the varieties of potatoes it prefers for its outlets and the quality tests the produce must meet so that interested farmers can adjust their farming, KFC declined to provide the information.
The chain also refused to disclose what it pays for its imported potatoes and whether over the past decade it had supported local farmers to grow better potatoes.
“While our frozen chips are currently imported into Kenya, we have been on a journey to identify a local supplier that has the processing, tracking and cold chain management capability to supply KFC chips in line with our product consistency standards which is an essential part of our customer experience,” KFC told the Nation.
KFC claimed that 80 per cent of the ingredients used in the food it sells are locally sourced and insisted that it supports the growth of local businesses
“We recognise the importance of supporting the growth and sustainability of the local economy in the countries we operate in and therefore, work closely with local suppliers across our supply chain, employ over 680 Kenyan citizens, as well as proudly support many Kenyan businesses,” it said.
But even as the franchise insists that local suppliers meet its standards, the Nation has confirmed that other international restaurants and five-star hotels in Kenya – which also serve food that meets international standards – have been sourcing potatoes locally.
“We source all our products – including potatoes for chips and other foods – from Kenyans because our hotel wants to uplift local communities,” said Radisson Blu marketing official Randy Ngala.
“The potatoes supplied to us meet international standards since suppliers have been sensitised on requirements and they know what’s needed even at the point of harvesting, in the laid-down procedures.”
Among Radisson Blu’s requirements for potatoes, he said, are the size and quality of the products. The hotel has a range of local and international clients.
Farmers and consumers say KFC’s policy reveals the government’s failure to protect the local market from importation of products that are readily available, with Kenya losing capital as a result.
Consumers said that as buyers of potatoes at markets and hotels, they have not complained about the quality of Kenyan potatoes.
“I believe we grow good potatoes in Nyandarua and other parts of the highlands. When KFC tells us they import theirs, that shows why our politicians and technocrats don’t care about job creation. CS (Peter) Munya should have lobbied for such firms to use local resources,” said Henry Yatich.
Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) secretary-general Stephen Mutoro said KFC’s policy is an affront to Kenya’s potato economy as it unfairly demeans the produce.
“Their customers are locals who also feed on locally produced potatoes at other places. There haven’t been any complaints by consumers on the quality of Kenyan potatoes,” Mr Mutoro said.
“This is a market prank by the retailer to appear to be more concerned about customers’ safety but in reality promoting importation of products that are locally available.”
Because KFC benefits from Kenyan customers, he said, it should act responsibly and promote local farmers instead of importing the products.
In response to the KFC report earlier this week that it preferred imported potatoes, other fast-food joints, including Chicken Inn, Burger King and Galito’s, also came out to state that they source their potatoes locally.
Kenya’s potato sector employs over 3.5 million people across value chains, contributing over Sh50 billion to the economy, the Ministry of Agriculture says.
“Based on current trends, Kenyans are expected to consume approximately 41kg of potato per capita by 2022 with the projection that Kenyans will consume a total of 2.3 million (metric tonnes) of potatoes in 2022 (and) hence the target is to increase potato production to 2.5 million tonnes per annum,” says the National Potato Council of Kenya’s strategy for 2021-2025.
Various studies have put Kenya’s annual potato production at between two and 2.5 million tonnes, and the crop is the country’s second staple after maize.
Data on Kenya’s international trade also indicates that the country exports potatoes to the rest of Africa and elsewhere, including the UK, where potato exports in 2018 were valued at over Sh600,000.
To export to certain markets, the potatoes must meet international standards. BY DAILY NATION