Sitting on a rickety bench at his home in Kipipiri, in central Kenya, Samuel Macharia pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and proudly points to the signature at the bottom.
“This paper means I get paid on time for my potatoes, even when the weather is bad,” he said.
The precious document is a farming contract Macharia signed in March with the East African Potato Consortium. It says he will sell at least two tonnes of potatoes to food processors each harvesting season for the next two years.
“Thanks to this contract I can earn up to Sh22,000 ($213) per season,” he said.
Recurring drought and sudden cold spells have affected the quality of potatoes and other staples across Kenya.
Peris Mukami, a farmer from Timau village, in Meru County, said her potato yields had declined by over 10 per cent in the past two years because “it is either too cold or too hot”.
“The cold damages potato vines with frostbite while heat makes them wilt,” she explained.
To try to fight back, Kenyan potato farmers such as Macharia are increasingly turning to production contracts with food processors – a system known as contract farming – through the East African Potato Consortium.
By working with the consortium, they get access to seeds that better stand up to harsher conditions, as well as better fertilisers.
They also get a guaranteed price for their crop, as long as they produce good-quality potatoes on time, said Wachira Kaguongo, head of the National Potato Council.
