Farmers cry foul as potatoes rot in farms

Large scale potato farmers in Nyandarua County are a worried lot. After a bumper harvest that was hoped to change their fortunes, they are now stuck with piles of the tubers with no market.

The county has been hit with a potato glut. So bad is the situation, the produce is now rotting in farms.

Coping mechanisms

To cope with an already worse situation, farmers have been forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices since there is no ready market.

The price of the commodity per bag has dropped from Sh3,500 to Sh1,500. Smart Harvest spoke to some farmers who shared their frustrations.

For Mrs Lucy Njeri, a farmer in Ol Jororok, with gunias of the same, no money at hand and the next planting season approaching, she has no clue what to do next.

Njeri expected to reap big from her two acres farm in Gathanji but her hopes have been dashed.

“I had invested over Sh100,000 in the potato project and expected to get double the amount in return. Upon harvesting, I was shocked to learn that there was no market for the commodity.The buyers are buying at throw away prices,” she lamented.

To further complicate the situation, the mother of five has to service a loan she had acquired from a local bank from other sources.

She says her produce worth thousands of shillings, is rotting in her stores.

Her neighbour Moses Murimi shares the same story.

He expected to fetch over Sh500,000 from his 10-acre farm.

“Unlike in the past, this is very unusual. We have never had such a potato glut especially during this period of the year. This is the time that we reap big from our investments. The buyers are buying the commodity at very cheap prices,” he said.

Nyandarua Potato Growers Association chairman Wilfred Kimaru lamented that farmers across the county have lost investments estimated at Sh20 million.

He blames the middlemen for the loss.

“They are buying the commodity in extended bags of over 110 kilos only to repackage it thereby making a kill. That is why farmers have refused to sell the commodity to them at the throw away prices and hence the glut,” he says.

Brokers to blame

Local leaders led by Governor Francis Kimemia and Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni have called for the government’s intervention into the matter.

The leaders are now calling for the gazettment of the Potato Act that requires that the problem be sold in 50 kilogram bags and not the extended bags.

“This is the only way that we can solve the crisis. It is the middlemen who are causing this glut as they insist to buy the produce in extended bags” said Kioni.

What Governor says

On his part, Kimemia said his administration was putting up a potato processing factory in Kinangop area as from April this year.

“A German firm by the name BASF has also promised to set up seven potato packs in the county as from October. This will be a solution to the problems that we are currently facing,” said the governor.