Thirty-six-year-old Tabitha Mutiso jumped into the murky world of orange-fleshed sweet potato farming last year and is now ready to increase her acreage.
The ready market from Makutano bakery lured the mother of five from Yatta sub-county to sweet potato farming.
“A part from the bakery, I also get customers from as far as Thika and Matuu town coming to pick the potatoes after placing their order on phone,” she says.
One tonne of the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes goes for Sh30,000 at the bakery.
Tabitha grows the sweet potatoes on half an acre using water that she harvests from the Yatta furrow that runs next to her farm.
“I was very happy when I received Sh30,000 from my first harvest which gave me one tonne. I am confident that the second harvest will fetch more and I will be able to meet the fees expenses for my daughter at Bondoni secondary and take care of the rest in primary school, ” she says.
Lack of clean quality planting material is choking the potential of orange-fleshed sweet potato production in Kenya, which stands at 4.8 tonnes per acre.
The first batch of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) seeds was acquired from the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation and farmers began to multiply.
Land preparation for growing OFSP includes ploughing, harrowing to a fine tilth and removal of all trash.
Tabitha explains that vines are inserted at an angle in the soil with spacing of 10-20cm between rows and 10 cm from one plant to another plant cutting.
“Vines should be from healthy plants about 2-3 months old. I also apply farmyard manure at the rate of 2.5kg per square meter before planting which I readily get from my dairy cattle hence cutting cost,” says Tabitha.
“I encourage other women from dry regions to adopt climate smart farming since it’s very cost effective and will increase their livelihoods.”
Joseph Mwadhe, 34, a farmer from Mayuni region had been growing the local sweet potato on a quarter of his two acre piece of land.
It was until he met a field officer from Christian Impact Mission-Makutano, Yatta that he made a gamble which changed his life.
He has divided his farm into four parts which has enabled him to produce the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes every month to the tune of one to three tonnes.
“From an eighth of a quarter of an acre I get around Sh15,000 a month. I have been able to buy another acre at Kasiongove from savings I got after selling the sweet potatoes. I have already prepared the land for planting,” says the father of three.
Recent figures released by the International Potato Center indicate that 125 grams of orange-fleshed sweet potato contains beta-carotene, the pre-cursor to vitamin A hence an important strategy to improve vitamin A deficiency.
According to Yatta ACK Diocese Bishop Titus Masika, agricultural value chain is a harbinger of developing local sustainable market and enhancing financial security among small-holder farmers.
“We must empower farmers in the community to get value from their produce. And that is why we have started a sweet potato value chain,” says Masika.
He adds that creating jobs in the villages through sustainable value chains is a recipe for reducing the rate of urbanisation.
“Poverty in this county is more entrenched in the rural areas. When these people move to the slums because they can’t afford to stay in the city suburbs, we end up creating slums with poor people” Masika says.
