Taita Taveta County Potato Strategy

Abstract

Potato has emerged as a strategic crop in Kenya, in term of contributing to food and nutrition security, employment creation and economic development. The crop’s importance is captured and recognized in the Government’s Big 4 Agenda, Strategic Food Reserve (SFR), and Warehouse Receipts System (WRS). The crop is grown by about a million small scale farmers on 120,000 hectares and with an average yield of 8.6 tons per hectare generating more than Sh50 billion to the country.

Taita Taveta County previously did not produce potatoes, but with the release of climate resilient varieties, potato production has improved, and the crop is now second in production after maize. Despite the massive potential of the crop in the county, there are many challenges it faces limiting the potential production and productivity. The challenges touch on certified seed production, variety adoption, value addition and marketing infrastructure, financing and insurance options, legal and regulatory framework, coordination and partnerships, and funding. The challenges have led to decreased production, low farmer incomes and contribution to the county’s economy. In the effort to address the above challenges; the Taita Taveta, County Government working in collaboration with international Potato Center (CIP) National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK), and other key partners and stakeholders embarked on development of the County Potato Strategy. The strategy is aligned with the National Potato Strategy, 2021-2025, vision 2030, Government Big 4 Agenda, The Crops (Irish Potato) Regulations 2019, WRS, and the County’s Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). The strategy is intended to harmonize the activities of different actors geared towards development of potato sub sector in the county and guide the growth of potato value chain for improved potato production, food and nutrition security, income generation and livelihoods. The Strategy was developed jointly by different partners in 2021 to cover a period of five years (2021-2025). It considers the current status, different partner activities, and envisions how the challenges can be tackled collectively through strategic partnerships. A SWOT analysis has been done and areas of interventions drawn in the strategic objectives with measurable deliverables within specific time frames. The strategy also has the budgets for the interventions identified within a 5-year period all aiming to address the challenges and improve the position of the potato value chain in the county.