Annex III: Summary of the Results of the Kenya Country Study

Commodities, Period, Districts and Study Team

The study dealt with potatoes and sweet potatoes. The overall time frame was from May 1996 to February 1998. Field work took place in February and March 1997 in the main production regions (Meru district for potatoes and Kisii district for sweet potatoes). The study was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of five persons from Kenya and Germany specialising in agricultural economics, nutrition, home economics, market economics and food technology.

The potato post-production chain

The potato post-production chain is a diversified system of actors and operations. On-farm operations (harvesting, sorting) are generally conducted in such a way as to meet market demand. There are various marketing options for the individual farmer in the major production region, including farm-gate selling. Storage takes place according to price expectations and cash needs. The marketing system in the rural areas is well developed, which has led to the establishment of potato growing as a major cash crop for smallholders. Transport costs to major urban centres, where food demand is steadily increasing, are reasonable. Although wholesale market facilities are overloaded the potato market is fast-clearing, with no major storage requirements or product losses. Processing to chips (French fries) and crisps is expanding.

The sweet potato post-production chain

Sweet potato is in the initial stage of commercialisation. Depending on access to the major rural centre of Kisii, sales of sweet potato have increased significantly in recent years. On-farm operations include harvesting, sorting and washing. There is a small amount of processing, but demand for processed products in rural areas is limited. Marketing by the farmer is usually through village agents who place firm orders prior to harvesting. Quantities are then assembled and transhipped via Kisii to urban centres. Women play a considerable part in marketing operations. Although sweet potato has the potential to substitute for other staple food crops, consumption in urban areas is still limited.

Conclusions

Both commodities are bulky, and sweet potato is perishable. The post-production system has coped well with these characteristics and is successful in meeting demand in urban areas. The marketing system is fairly efficiently organised with few reported losses in the chain. Given the variety of operations to be fulfilled, marketing margins are competitive. Price signals are effectively bridging demand and supply, and farmers usually know the prices in the nearer markets.

Recommendations

The following improvements are recommended to overcome the existing constraints:

• Rural infrastructure, especially roads, should be improved in order to reduce transport costs and give better access to markets


• Weights and measures should be standardised on a national scale, following the example of Meru district, in order to raise trans-parency in the market


• The research-extension system should consider sweet potato as an upcoming cash crop and explore opportunities for rural and urban processing


• Heavy congestion and overspilling of wholesale market facilities should be eased


• A solution for the lack of certified seed, which is limiting potato production potential, should be found. The collapse of parastatal seed production has not been replaced by private-sector activities


• There is a need for further study of the consumption characteri-stics of sweet potato in urban centres, in particular the relationship between the demand for sweet potato and demand for other food crops