KFC, an American fast-food chain, declared early last year that it had opened its doors to Kenyan farmers to supply it with potatoes for potato chips as long as they met their standards. Co-operative Bank, Yara, Bayer East Africa, Simplifine, and AgricoPSA formed a consortium to establish a sustainable potato supply network across the country, in this respect. By signing an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Nyandarua county recently, a significant milestone was reached that will lead to more Kenyan-produced potato crisps for KFC.

The first significant moves toward establishing this national potato value chain were made in 2022. Kenyan chips were subsequently produced for KFC in Kenya as a consequence of this. This partnership has seen significant participation from AgricoPSA. It gives farmers who want to furnish KFC’s processors, like Simplifine, the recommended potato variety Markies, which is Kenya’s top potato processing variety.

AgricoPSA has been steadily increasing its output in Kenya as a result of the rapidly increasing demand for Markies. As a consequence, the entire value chain for potatoes in Kenya is expanding. Another significant step toward creating the national sustainable potato value chain is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Nyandarua county.

“From now onwards more Nyandaruan potato farmers will benefit from this market opportunity. By entering the consortium, potato farmers acquire access to affordable and high-quality inputs, access to finance, and access to sustainable markets. A win-win for all, and the largest beneficiary are the Kenyan farmers. In addition, growing Markies lowers farming risks for Kenyan potato farmers: they acquire access to two premium markets. The potato chips industry requests their large Markies potatoes and the potato crisping industry favors their smaller Markies sizes,” according to a recent press release.