By Antony Mwaura and Maria Mbogo
Introduction
The potato farming is a significant pillar in Kenya’s agricultural sector, ranking as the second most significant crop after maize, and employing more than 3.5 million people along the value chain. Cultivated by approximately 800,000 smallholder farmers across 120,000–150,000 hectares, potatoes contribute significantly to food security, rural incomes, and economic growth. As a staple food and an essential ingredient in processed products such as crisps and french fries, potatoes are pivotal for both rural and urban populations. The sector’s strategic role is reflected in national policy documents such as the National Food Nutrition Policy (2011) and the Roots and Tuber Crops Strategy (2019). This blog examines Kenya’s potato value chain, highlighting its challenges and opportunities for creating sustainable employment.
Status of Kenya’s Potato Value Chain Progress in potato value chain
Jobs creation through potato production and consumption
Production of potato grew from approximately 1,500 tonnes to 86,103 tonnes between the period 2018 and 2023. This resulted in increase in annual income generated from approximately Ksh 200 million to Ksh 680 million. This growth may be attributed to the standardization of post-harvest management introduced by the Crops (Irish Potato) Regulations, 2019, and the promotion of certified seed for use by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS). Further, research institutions, including the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), have worked with the private sector and the government to produce better varieties of seeds and to offer technical support.
Table 1: Quantities and value of potato production in Kenya, 2018-2023
| Unit | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Quantities of Principal Commodities (Tonnes) | 1,587.7 | 3,536.3 | 27,839.7 | 68,932.5 | 35,944.1 | 86,103.7 |
| Gross Marketed Production at Current Prices (Ksh millions) | 201.3 | 237.1 | 225.3 | 274.9 | 371.0 | 681.6 |
Source of data: KNBS (2024), Statistical Abstract Employment opportunities along the value chain
This sector has the potential to contribute approximately 27,000–40,000 new jobs, enhancing inclusivity and innovation in the potato value chain. The potato value chain in Kenya is diverse and offers a variety of employment opportunities. At the farm, opportunities include planting, harvesting, and other post-harvest activities. The expanding contract farming and mechanized farming are increasing the demand for
casual workers in planting, watering, and harvesting. Extension services also provide opportunities for agronomists and extension workers to train farmers on improving seed selection, dealing with pests, and practicing sustainable farming. Furthermore, input suppliers gain from supplying fertilizer, certified seeds, and pesticides, thus creating employment in retailing and distribution.
During production and distribution, employment is needed in packaging, grading, and quality checking, especially on processed products such as chips, crisps, and frozen fries where the market demands set standards. Transport and logistics are essential and require drivers and warehouse operators so that potatoes can get to the markets and processing plants. Businessmen also find opportunities in value addition activities such as extending the market from potato-based snacks to starch for industrial purposes, providing room for employment in manufacturing, branding, and marketing.
Challenges in the Potato Value Chain
Casual and seasonal employment: The seasonal nature of labour demand in the periods of planting and harvesting limits the number of quality permanent jobs leading to income instability.
Poor infrastructure: Poor roads, storage facilities, and transport systems increase post- harvest losses and operational costs that reduce profitability for smallholder farmers. This limits their potential to invest in the expansion of production that would lead to job opportunities such as logistics, storage, and distribution.
Limited use of certified seeds: There is lower yield from uncertified seeds and higher vulnerability to pests and diseases, resulting in reduced farmers’ income. This limits the potential to expand opportunities for wage employment in farming and support services, like the distribution of seeds and extension services.
Limited value addition: Absence of facilities that process the potato tubers into higher value products reduces demand for skilled and semi-skilled labour. This eliminates the possibility of a wide range of job opportunities such as quality assurance, machine operation, and product marketing.
Opportunities in the Potato Value Chain
Promoting year-round employment: Building cold storage facilities may help farmers preserve potatoes for off-season sales, ensuring consistent jobs in storage management and logistics throughout the year.
County roads and market infrastructure: As devolution intensifies, county governments have immense opportunities to enhance transportation of farm input through upgrading of county roads and promoting development of infrastructure, which increase shelf-life of farm produce including cold storage.
Research, innovation and awareness: Promoting development of variety, resilience and quality of seeds will boost potato industry. Increased training and public awareness has potential to sustain the potato industry and the associated jobs.
Value addition: Investing in processing facilities for products such as crisps and potato flour diversifies income streams, generating jobs in processing, packaging, machine operation, and marketing.
Better market access: Strengthening cooperatives, promoting digital marketing, and developing fair trade systems enhance farmers’ market stability and bargaining power, creating opportunities in cooperative management, digital platforms, and entrepreneurship.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The potato value chain as a key driver of the rural economy promotes food security for Kenya. Considering the large employment it generates, the sector has enormous prospects for social and economic evolution. Along with the progress that this value chain has made, there are still hurdles which include infrastructure gaps, seasonal employment, limited certified seeds, and low value addition. By unlocking such challenges and leveraging the gaps, both the national and county governments may offer support by:
- Developing infrastructure and prioritizing the construction and improvement of rural roads, storage systems and transport networks to reduce post-harvest losses.
- Supporting certified seed adoption through subsidies, training programmes and collaborative initiatives to boost yields.
- Expanding the value addition capacity by establishing processing facilities for potato-based products to diversify revenue streams.
Fostering the growth of farmer cooperatives, encouraging the adoption of digital sales platforms, and implementing equitable trade systems to stabilize markets and improve farmers’ negotiating power
