Potato farmers In Elgeyo Marakwet are protesting following a sudden drop in prices of the commodity amid the high cost of production.
The agitated farmers are accusing middlemen of the dropped prices saying brokers flooded their farms with exploitative bags and lorries dictating the prices.
According to KNA, the farmers lamented that over a month ago, a 50-kg bag of Irish potatoes sold for Kes 2,500, which has since dropped to a paltry Kes 500.
“The stranglehold of brokers has brought us to our knees. We, the farmers, find ourselves at their mercy as they control market access and capital flow.”
Further, they decried that the lack of a standardised selling framework by the county government had given the middlemen unchecked power. “Brokers, although a thorn for farmers, provide immediate financial relief, leading many to reluctantly comply with their demands,” he noted.
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Geographical difficulties are one of the key issues aggravating the farmers' suffering because Eldoret, the main market for their produce, is far from the farms.
Because of this, farmers face transportation problems and are at the whim of ruthless brokers.
These middlemen then select only the highest crops, leaving the lower harvests to decay in the fields. Such waste contributes to the farmer's increasing financial woes.
In addition, several farmers claimed that they gave in to the brokers' demands out of sheer desperation due to the numerous financial commitments they must meet, such as school fees and medical expenses.
It is against this backdrop that the farmers appealed to the county government’s Agriculture Department to intervene and lockout brokers from the potato business by taking charge of marketing their produce directly.
