When Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika took office in 2022, revamping of the agriculture sector was one of her flagship projects. In her manifesto, Governor Kihika pledged to revive the lucrative sector.
Almost three years after she took office, the county chief, who is in an ambitious plan to reinvigorate the sector, is now banking on cooperative societies to put more profits in farmers’ pockets.
Ms Kihika’s administration has been working to revitalize cooperatives and encouraging farmers to form new ones in bid to help them tap into market opportunities and boost their income.
According to the county government, cooperative societies are the best way to protect farmers from exploitation by middlemen and attract government funding.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock CECM Mr Leonard Bor expressed concern that most farmers in crop and dairy farming are not tapping maximum market potential because they are not members of cooperatives adding that Governor Kihika’s administration and the national government were keen to help farmers organised in cooperatives.
Speaking during a meeting with officials of Nakuru County Potato Union (NCPU) Mr Bor indicated that the union has been pivotal in promoting the potato value chain in the devolved unit particularly in promoting the use of certified seeds to improve productivity among small holder farmers.
“The County Government is dedicated to promote growth of the cooperative movement as these entities are essential in ensuring farmers have access to resources and financial support that can help them scale up their activities and increase productivity,” stated the CECM.
The CECM who was flanked by County Agriculture Chief Officer Mr Newton Mwaura and Director for Agriculture Mr Charles Githiri hailed NCPU for supporting farmers through provision of mechanization services, certified seeds, and marketing of the produce.
He added, “We are in talks with the national government and development partners to help farmers avoid post-harvest losses through establishment of, for instance, cold rooms for produce like potatoes and carrots and value addition factories.
Mr Bor stated that the principle behind forming cooperatives lies in their capacity to enhance bargaining power, reduce costs, secure otherwise unavailable products or services, expand markets, improve quality and ultimately increase income.
For farmers, the CECM pointed out that cooperatives provide access to high quality inputs, negotiate on their behalf, offer transportation services and market their produce. He added that cooperatives serve as a mechanism for pooling resources and raising capital for development.
“In Nakuru Governor Kihika’s administration has embraced cooperatives as the driving force behind agricultural and entrepreneurial growth,” noted the CECM.
According to official records from the County Government, Nakuru boasts of 506 cooperatives spread across its 11 Sub-Counties, categorized into farmer cooperatives (101), Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (333) and Housing and Investment Cooperatives (72).
County Agriculture Chief Officer Mwaura said towards supporting cooperatives and small-scale entrepreneurs the devolved unit had established the County Cooperative Revolving Fund and the County Enterprise Fund, each with a kitty of Shs 50 million for affordable credit.
Mr Mwaura indicated that the county government through cooperatives seeks to help farmers create market linkages to tap into the insatiable international market.
Nakuru, regarded as a key food basket in the Rift Valley region, is an agriculturally rich county and a leading producer of potatoes, carrots, milk, vegetables and pyrethrum among other crops.
Molo, Kuresoi South and North, Subukia, Njoro and Bahati are among the county’s main agricultural producers.
Mr Mwaura challenged farmers to move from subsistence farming and penetrate the high-value export market, besides joining cooperatives to help access services and market their produce.
The Chief Officer stated that they have been holding sensitization forums across Nakuru to encourage farmers to join cooperatives.
He said that the County Government is supporting initiatives to enable more farmers to access certified potato seeds to help increase food production to enhance food security.
The devolved unit’s administration affirmed that it was committed through public-private partnerships to increase high quality certified potato seed by 25 per cent through rapid multiplication, increased field seed bulking as well as capacity building of commercial seed growers in the County.
Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development (TIAPD) has raised the red flag that Kenya is facing a severe shortage of good quality potato planting material, a situation that is threatening the country’s food security.
The Agricultural Development Corporation’s (ADC) seed development project in Nakuru’s Molo Sub-County is the main center of potato seed production, storage and distribution in the country.
The Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization (KALRO) potato research in Tigoni in Kiambu County supplements the Molo project.
TIAPD has pointed out that over the past three years the seed supply has been erratic affecting production of the crop which is a scheduled crop under the Crops Act of 2013.
Nakuru is the second largest producer of the crop accounting for 18.9 percent of national production.
The shortage is being experienced in most potato growing regions like Nyandarua, Nakuru, Bomet, Nyeri and Nandi.
“The selection of the seed potato is very important, but in Kenya, it is given little attention. Our farmers usually sell the largest potatoes for cash, eat the medium-sized ones at home, and keep the smallest as future planting material. Poor seed delivers a poor harvest.” TIAD observed in a report.
Other top potato producing counties are Elgeyo Marakwet, Makueni, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Kajiado, Samburu and Kwale.
There are about 200,000 farmers growing potatoes in Nakuru on more than 38,000 acres of land with a total of 160,000 tonnes.
According to the National Potato Council of Kenya in the country the crop is cultivated by over 800,000 farmers with a total production ranging from 1 to 1.4 million tonnes worth between Sh30 to 40 billion per year. Small scale farmers account for about 83 percent of total production.
The Director of Agriculture Mr Githiri disclosed that farmers were being linked to research institutions including KALRO, ADC and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) to ensure they procure clean and certified planting materials.
A study done by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) has established that poor planting material is behind diminishing potato production in Kenya.
According to Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) the low potato yield, which is averaging 8.6 tonnes per acre, was partly due to bad management practices used by farmers in the country.
Mr Githiri said Kenya was banking on high-quality potato seed production by KALRO, Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), Egerton University among other research institutions to increase production to supply seeds to over 12 million tonnes annually.
He regretted that many farmers were recycling their seeds leading to a drop in quality and quantity of potato production in their farms.
While disclosing that Kenya will host the International Potato Conference in 2026, whereby Nakuru County has been proposed as the venue, the Director said that currently, farmers are harvesting around 10 tonnes of potatoes per hectare, but noted that this could rise to 25 tonnes per hectare if there was crop rotation, use of certified seeds and right spraying.
According to the National Potato Council of Kenya the Shs 50 billion worth sub sector supports 3.8 million people directly and indirectly.
Most small holder farmers prefer to use uncertified seeds whose quality is poor and spreads diseases on their farms.
According to agricultural experts in seed production, only about 8 percent of middle level farmers with lands measuring between 10 acres and above rely on seeds supplied by ADC Molo project.
Others opt to get clean tubers from private seed producers like Sygenta, Kisima, Suera, Agreco, GTIL, Gen-Biotech, Singus Enterprises and the Narok based Kimingi Farm.
The Director observed that mechanization of potato farming can help farmers produce up to five times what they produce today. This, he added, would improve the livelihood of the farmers, help the country achieve food security, and reduce reliance on maize.
“The average potato yield in Kenya is three to six tonnes per acre. Several factors contribute to this dismal performance including substandard potato seeds, low level of mechanization and poor application and quality of fertilizers,” he explained.
He added “Mechanization is the surest way of improving yield. Farmers who have embraced mechanized agriculture and use high-quality seeds, as well as appropriate fertilizers, are assured of increased production. They are also guaranteed lower production costs giving higher profits.”
By Jane Ngugi and Patience Moraa
