Potato farmers drawn from Gusii region have decried low prices for their produce blaming middle-men and other brokers for their losses.
According to some of the farmers being potato harvesting season they have had the lowest prices in the market and they fear encountering losses.
Edwin Onyoni a farmer from Gesonso said the brokers have taken advantage, literary camping on their farms with bags and lorries, determining the prices and what the farmers should get for their hard earned produce.
Onyoni added that their major cash crop was potatoes and since the harvesting season started, the price for a 50kg bag has tremendously dropped from Sh2,500 to Sh500 in a span of one month.
“We have suffered great losses because farmers are being controlled by brokers who stand between the farmer and the market. Farmers easily give in to them because they provide easy cash,” he added.
He added that their main market brokers dictate prices and sometimes they select only the best variety in the farm leaving the rest of the crop to rot in the farms.
Onyoni said that farmers have no option with the burden of school fees as well as other utility bills they accept and suffer losses in silence.
“At times they prefer selling their crops before they overstay in the farms to avoid more losses,” said Onyoni.
He called on the County Government to come to their rescue through the Ministry of Agriculture to help weed out the brokers by marketing their produce and ensuring that the farmers benefit directly from the sale of the produce.