Linking small scale farmers to the market through digital promotion platforms has contributed to control of post-harvest losses of potatoes in Nyandarua and Nakuru counties respectively, agriculture stakeholders confirm. 

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) and Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (Asareca) say assisting farmers to sell their produce digitally has led to reduction of post-harvest losses and other wastage along the value chain.

According to Dr Joshua Okonya, Programme Officer at Asareca using digital marketing platforms to sell their produce, farmers are enjoying increased production in every season and earning impressive income. 

“This has almost solved the problem of massive wastage of food, especially to those farmers who do not have modern storage facilities, he said during a recent workshop in Murungaru area of Nyandarua County.

The theme of the meeting was enhancing digital literacy of farmers in the utilisation of the Viazi soko and Agri Bora platforms for market linkages in Kenya. 

Asareca together with Kalro has been implementing a European Union funded programme – Strengthening Agricultural knowledge and the Innovation ecosystem for inclusive Rural Transformation and livelihoods in Eastern Africa (AIRTEA) project in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

The programme has focused on various value chains, – maize, potato and dairy farming with farmers trained on good agricultural practices and linking them to digital marketers.