MERU, Kenya, Jan 18 – Gakoromone market in Meru is facing a shortage of potatoes with traders unable to source supplies.
Traders who spoke to KNA said that the shortage has been there for the last two-months.
Dina Kagiri, a trader, attributed the decline to the high cost of farm inputs such as seeds, pesticides, and diseases.
Other is poor yields due to the climate change phenomena.
“The major cause of this shortage is high cost of farming incurred from planting time till harvest and this can be attributed to the high cost of farm inputs. The cost is high to be borne by the majority of farmers hence the shortage that we are experiencing at the moment,” said Kagiri.
Consequently, prices of potatoes have shot up, slashing traders profit margins.
Kagiri adds that a 50-kilogram sack of potato now retails at Sh4,500, which is also not affordable to many consumers.
“Sometimes we are forced to reduce the prices of the potatoes to favor our daily customers and this affects us negatively as one can make as low as Sh200 from a sack of potatoes,” she said.
James Mutethia, another potato trader from the market confirmed that the shortage has really affected their returns and they were only sticking to the business due to lack of an alternative.
“When the production of potatoes was high from the farms, we used to make as much as Sh1000 from a sack of potatoes but the decline is at the moment unimaginable,” said Mutethia.
The traders are now left with no other option but to hope that everything will get better soon so that they can at least satisfy their daily customers.
“We are calling on the government through the ministry of agriculture to come up with more potato varieties that fit our region so that its productivity cannot be compromised even when the rains are inadequate,” he added.
