Round Potato (Solanum tuberosum) offers food security to Kenya’s population and commercial benefits to smallholder farmers. However, varied weather patterns due to climate change affect its yields and quality.
Addressing these challenges is what Sereni fries Ltd does under its partnership with CRAFT. Some of the techniques the agro-company leverage include - improving access to improved seed, reliable markets, climate finance and other relevant services that ensure that the project validated smallholder farmers are resilient.
Key interventions
- Build the capacity of the business champion in leadership, business management skills, marketing, and financial inclusion.
- Enhance the capacity of 2,500 smallholder farmers by 2022 on scheduled contract farming agreements to improve potato production by 15% through climate smart agronomy.
- Recruit and train 8 Training of Trainers (ToTs) on climate smart agriculture. In turn, the ToTs are expected to train the SHFs, conduct continuous sensitisation, and follow up on agreed actions.
- Facilitate linkages between the farmers and 15 value chain actors in areas of mechanisation, finance, and inputs.
- Facilitate the set up 15 demo farms to showcase CSA practices and technologies and facilitate self-directed learning for SHFs.
About the Business Champion
Sereni fries Ltd is an Irish potato processor that was established in 2012. Its products range from sliced chips, to peeled potatoes and wedges.
While catering services, hotels, restaurants, and fast-food outlets are the company’s biggest clients, Sereni strategically supports smallholder farmers to produce ware potato that is climate resilient. And by creating a market, providing inputs, and extension services that were hindrances to production, the company is addressing the value chain gaps in potato farming.
With CRAFT’s support, Serene installed a modern potato storage facility that has gone a long way in reducing post harvest losses.
