Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a major food and cash crop in the Kenyan highlands, widely grown by small-scale farmers. Farmer practices and constraints in potato production differ from region to region. A survey was conducted in three major potato producing districts namely Bomet, Molo and Meru Central with the following objectives: 1) to document farmers’ practices, key potato production and marketing constraints, 2) to determine farmers’ potato cultivar and trait preferences and 3) to assess the prevalence and farmers’ management of bacterial wilt. The survey was carried out between November 2011 and March 2012. During the survey, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 253 individual farmers. The results show that the average household farm sizes are less than 2.4 hectares in all the districts. Majority of farmers allocate more than 25% of their farms to potatoes. Potato is produced both for food and cash by 90% of respondents in all districts. In Bomet district the red-skinned Dutch Robyjn is widely grown. In Molo district, the white- skinned Cangi is prominent while in Meru Central, the red-skinned Asante is predominantly grown by farmers. Cultivar preferences are mostly dictated by availability of markets, yield potential and taste. The major potato production constraints are diseases with bacterial wilt being the most prominent

This article gives a general overview of bacterial wilt of potatoes and its management. It also highlights the potential of host resistance as an important component of integrated management of bacterial wilt in Kenya. Bacterial wilt has spread to all potato growing areas in Kenya, affecting over 70% of potato farms and causing yield losses of between 50 to 100%. This disease has no effective means of control because crop protection chemicals are ineffective and expensive and biological control agents are ineffective. In addition, phytosanitary methods such as quarantine are either expensive or difficult to apply and cultural methods such as crop rotations are largely impractical because the farms are too small to allow effective rotation, the pathogen has a wide host range, and it persists for long in the soil. Development of resistant cultivars could therefore play an important role in managing the disease. More resistant potato clones have recently been identified by CIP scientists, and this resistance needs to be incorporated into the popular but susceptible Kenyan potato cultivars so as to increase potato production in Kenya. For better results, use of high resistant varieties may be coupled with use of disease-free tubers and clean fields.

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In Kenya, traditional food crops play an important role in food and nutritional security, especially in the dry parts of Kenya. This study set out to document the most important traditional food crops in Kenya and highlight their production levels, production ecologies, as well as their nutritional value. The findings reveal that the relative importance of traditional food crops differs from one area to another and, while some are produced for subsistence use; others, like sweet potatoes, are grown for commercial purposes. Despite their potential contribution to food and nutritional security, production of traditional food crops is far below that of maize (the main staple food in Kenya). The authors recommend rigorous promotion to increase their production and consumption, since traditional food crops are grown in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country where maize does not perform as well.

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