Kenia: Deal to help farmers access quality potato seed
For a long time now, potato farmers in the country have been facing a couple of challenges such as poor quality seeds, lack of information on crop nutrition programs, restricted access to finance and unreliable markets.
But thanks to a partnership among industry stakeholders, this situation is bound to change for the benefit of the ever-resilient farmers.
Yara East Africa have entered a partnership focused on strengthening the potato value chain in Kenya, with an aim to provide reliable economic opportunities for potato farmers.
According to the National Potato Council of Kenya, potatoes are Kenya’s second-most significant food and economic crop after maize. Around 800,000 smallholder farmers cultivate the crop, resulting in downstream employment of 2.7 million people, and contributing more than over Sh50 billion to the economy. The average output is 10 tonnes per hectare.
“This initiative will work on addressing the current barriers that smallholder farmers face within the potato value chain by enabling access to affordable and quality inputs, credit, and markets,” noted William Ngeno, Yara East Africa’s Country Manager.
Fuente: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/crop/article/2001450380/deal-to-help-farmers-access-quality-potato-seed
