Rose Wanjugu, a farmer at Ngorika village in Milangine, says 2022 was the worst year for her ever since she started farming.
Wanjugu had harvested 70 bags of potatoes from her two-acre farm and expected to earn over Sh200,000 from the sale.
But to her surprise, the prices suddenly dropped from Sh3,000 per bag to Sh1,500 per bag. This was due to a potato glut in the area.
Since she did not want the produce to go to waste, Wanjugu was forced to sell the potatoes at Sh1,500 per bag, leading to heavy losses.
She said she had no proper place to store her harvest and wait for the market prices to stabilise and was therefore forced to sell over fears that the harvest would go to waste.
According to Wanjugu, middlemen have over the years taken advantage of farmers and exploited them.
But things are soon about to change as Wanjugu is among hundreds of farmers celebrating the commissioning of a Sh500 million potato cooling plant in Ol Kalou town. President William Ruto two weeks ago opened the plant, whose construction began in 2019.
"If there was such a cooling plant by then, I would have taken my potatoes there and waited for when the time prices would go up. We are glad that we will not suffer anymore," says Wanjugu.
According to Nyandarua Potato Growers Association chairman, Wilfred Kimaru, the commissioning of the plant was great news for farmers. "We have suffered for decades as we had nowhere to store the produce when there is no market. This will no longer be the case," he said.
Kimaru noted that farmers had already registered their groups and would be delivering their produce once harvested.
"We have been through a dry season, and there is not plenty of produce as of now. Once the harvest season comes we will be willing to take our produce to the cooling plant as we look for better markets. We are sure that we will not incur losses as has been happening," said Kimaru.
The chairman welcomed the county government for rehabilitation of roads in the region.
"This has also been a thorn in the flesh of farmers. There was a time that we would harvest in plenty, but the product could not reach the market on time. Things are now changing for better as we have seen roads being done," said Kimaru.
He, however, took issue with the government for failing to fully implement the Irish Potato Act passed five years ago.
This, he said, had led to farmers incurring heavy losses as middlemen purchase potatoes in extended bags, only to convert it to 50-kilogramme bags once they reach the market.
"This is hurting. We go through a lot before we harvest, only for the brokers to gain later. The government should do something," he said.
Governor Kiarie Badilisha hailed the completion of the project that was started by his predecessor Francis Kimemia in 2019.
"This is a milestone for farmers. We found the project incomplete, but together with the national government, we made sure our farmers will not suffer anymore," he noted.
He said the county government would work hand in hand with the farmers' groups to source better markets for their potatoes.
"When they are here, we are sure they will not rot. The county government is committed to searching for markets that our farmers can reap more from their investments," said Badilisha, while promising that farmers would get subsidised fertilizer from the county government to boost potato production.
"In the next budget, we will set aside funds for this. The potato sector is one of the key areas that we have identified as a government. We will boost the potato farmers in any way we can," said the governor.
