Sweet Potatoes, the Treasure Underneath

It is little known among many crop farmers yet the most emerging lucrative crop that one can ever have. The sweet potato crop, now the treasure that lies underneath the ground for the few lucky farmers who have discovered it. Many people only know of Irish potatoes, common in the Central Parts of Kenya and common in most food joints but few know about sweet potatoes, some call them mikalo, some ngwashe and some mabwoni.

Sweet potatoes are common in the Western parts of Kenya especially Bungoma County. Almost every homestead has at least a small plot inhabited with this crop. Initially, majority of farmers who planed this crop only did so for food but now most of them are increasingly doing it for commercial purposes.

One good about sweet potato plant is that it has no operational costs like other crops. What one needs are just stems, make some small heaps of soil, insert the stems and wait for between three to four months, and the roots will no longer be roots but full grown sweet potatoes.

Read: Advantages of Venturing into Sweet Potato Farming

Sweet potatoes are now becoming popular in major towns across the country like Nairobi and Mombasa. Most of food joints, which never used sweet potatoes before are now slowly adopting it on their menu and the reaction from customers are making them to increase orders by day. In most cases, potatoes are measured in small bags. For instance, a 50 kg bag of potatoes goes for between 200 and 2500 shillings on wholesale while those who sale them on retail in major markets like Ngara in Nairobi sell them for between 3000 and 3500 shillings.

“Sweet potato is slowly but steady taking over the crop market in Kenya. Many farmers are yet to take it serious but with recent fluctuations in maize prices, many farmers are likely to turn to sweet potato farming,” said Mr Jacob Munialo, a potato farmer from Tongaren Constituency in Bungoma County.

“Sweet potato farming does not need any special attention. Once planted, the crop takes care of itself and within three or four months, one starts to get his sweet returns,” he said.

Off the cuff

Bungoma County I generally an agricultural county with a major crop being maize, followed by beans then sugarcane and bananas.