We continue to publish exclusive materials from the WPC (World Potato Congress), telling about the organization of an efficient seed potato production chain in Africa.
The World Potato Congress will take place from May 31 to June 3 in Dublin, Ireland. The event will bring together professionals including potato growers, wholesalers, packers, importers and exporters of both seed and ware potatoes.
This week we will talk about the potato market in African countries.
Market access is the driving force behind sustainable potato production. It is essential to have a constant demand for continuous supply linking farmers with traders, large supermarkets and processors.
There is a good example of effective market linkage from the Kabale (Uganda) Nyabyumba integrated farming group (initiated and implemented by CIP when others such as Africare successfully joined) that produces potatoes for fast food restaurants in Kampala Nandos. This place specializes in french fries. This collaboration has led to sustainable potato production, and farmers and restaurateurs have benefited greatly.
Similarly, bringing farmers in Bomet, Kenya together with a processor called Tropical Heat (also called DEEPA Industries), which exports processed potatoes to the UK in 2010, helped farmers gain a consistent market for their potatoes, incentivizing them to produce a high quality product and increase their income.
The company also benefited by reducing losses and improving the quality of its products (chips) and therefore profits. Encouraged by the success of this company, several other firms began to engage farmers in contract manufacturing for them. Such contractual arrangements help farmers have much-needed cash to buy fertilizer and other inputs to increase their yields.
Unfortunately, farmers are tempted to sell their potatoes to other firms if they are offered higher prices than specified in the agreement. Processors sometimes reject potatoes supplied by farmers on the pretext that the product does not meet quality standards. To overcome such problems, regular meetings of farmers with processors and a review of the contractual agreement every three months to update prices are useful.
The export market, especially for processed potatoes, is growing rapidly. More and more potatoes are now being processed in response to growing demand from fast food outlets driven by growing urban populations, diversified diets and lifestyles that do not leave enough time for fresh produce.
This trend has increased the demand for processed foods, especially frozen and dried potatoes, which have had a low share in developing countries, especially in the export market.
The export of fresh and processed potato products to developed countries from Africa is extremely difficult due to the high tariffs that have been put in place. However, there is the possibility of exporting to neighboring countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Vital to successful marketing is a consistent supply of quality products, a collection center, grouping farmers together for joint production and sale, effective capacity building and building trust among members. Although small farmers have scattered and small holdings of land, land can be consolidated, as has been successfully implemented in Rwanda. Consolidated production allows mechanization and effective pest and disease control, improves access to credit and ensures effective marketing.
Ethiopia is pursuing similar actions through its Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) approach, which also consolidates production and promotes collective marketing. This is one reliable way to turn a small farm into a commercial one.
The Kisima farm in Kenya produces about 4000 tons of potatoes, of which 75% are in the seed category. Most of the seeds are sold to small farmers within a radius of 30 kilometers from the farm. The 400 smallholders who bought seeds from the Kishima farm and the approximately 12 farmers who received seeds from those 000 earned KSh 400 million at the end of 2013.
Thanks to the benefits of certified seeds, farmers go for it despite the high cost. Consequently, the demand for certified seeds is growing every day.