The potato is an important crop in Kenya, with a production in 2010 of around 1 million tonnes. The tuber is attracting great interest as one possible answer to the multiple challenges the country faces, including hunger, poverty and climate change. With some 800 000 potato growers, millions of rural and urban consumers and an estimated production value (at farmgate prices) of KES 13 billion (USD 150 million) a year, the potato has become one of Kenya’s strategic food commodities. A growing consensus in Kenya considers that by boosting food security, raising incomes, generating employment and improving nutrition, potato production could make an even greater contribution to achieving the objectives of Vision 2030, the national long-term development blueprint that aims at transforming Kenya into an industrializing, middle-income country.

The potato is an ideal candidate for crop diversification programmes in Kenya. Many rural households already depend on the tuber as a primary or secondary source of food. Potatoes are rich in protein, calcium, potassium and vitamin C and have a good amino acid balance. Moreover, the potato is a highly productive crop. Compared with wheat, rice and maize, it produces more food per unit of area and time. It has a short and highly flexible vegetative cycle and can be harvested within 100 days of planting. Another of the crop’s attributes is its great adaptability to almost any altitude and to a wide variety of climates, including arid and semi-arid lands. It is already cultivated as both a primary and off-season crop in different parts of Kenya.

The potato can be intercropped with many cash and food crops, and rotated with crops such as barley, maize and wheat. The tuber’s low fuel requirements and short cooking time, and its potential for value addition – e.g. chips and crisps – make the potato popular with both rural and urban consumers. Furthermore, the crop generates considerable employment in production, marketing and processing.

The potato is also insulated from international price shocks as, unlike major cereal commodities, it is traded sparingly in global markets. Only a fraction of its total production enters foreign trade – and then mainly as processed products. Thus, potato prices in Kenya are determined by local demand and supply conditions, not by the vagaries of international market speculation. In addition, since potatoes are not massively traded in major international commodity exchanges, the crop is not at risk from the ill-effects of speculative activity. The potato is a highly dependable food security crop and can help reduce imbalances in Kenya’s food supply and demand.

Despite its excellent potential for contributing to the growth of Kenya’s economy and improving the welfare of poor households, the potato subsector has been hampered by many complex constraints. They include: low yields; high disease incidence; shortage of suitable varieties; limited production, distribution and use of quality planting material; fragmentation of actors in the value chain linking producers and consumers; and the lack of value-added and new product development.

A concerted effort is needed to fully realize the potato’s potential to help improve livelihoods, reduce poverty and enhance food security in Kenya. Full implementation of the policy guidelines presented in this document can stimulate accelerated growth in potato production and use, and make an important contribution to helping producers and consumers reap the benefits of doing so.

While aimed primarily at policymakers in Kenya, the guide is also of use to decision-makers at institutional and policy levels in other countries of Eastern and Central Africa. It will help further the realization of the potato’s full potential as a high-value crop in response to emerging opportunities, such as changes in consumption pattern and the resulting need for value addition due to rapid urbanization, and to potential threats, including climate change and food price surges causing upheaval in international food markets.