Irish potato farmers’ cooperatives and traders should consider putting in place cold room facilities to allow for safe storage of the produce, government officials have said.

The new push comes at a time when prices for Irish potatoes have plummeted and officials say it would eventually improve potato production and benefit farmers and dealers in the crop value chain.

The Minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, as well as that of Trade and Industry, Vincent Munyeshyaka, rooted for commercial cold rooms during a news conference in Kigali yesterday.

However, farmers say they cannot afford the facilities due to the high costs involved in setting them up.

The news conference was called to brief journalists about efforts to improve Irish potato value chain in the country.

Munyeshyaka said that some media reports about the issue were inaccurate, including suggestions that government is punishing traders for selling Irish potatoes at lower prices.

"It is not true,” he said.

On December 6, the two ministers and that of Local Government Francis Kaboneka met representatives of Irish potato farmers, traders as well as other stakeholders in Musanze District to devise mechanisms to fix the issue of falling prices for Irish potatoes in the face of a spike in supply.

Following the meeting, Munyeshyaka set the farm gate price at between Rwf135 and Rwf165 per kilogramme depending on the type of the potatoes.

This, the ministers said, would ensure that the farmer gets at least a 25 per cent return on their investment.

The potato price in Kigali was set at between Rwf185 and Rwf220. The set prices should apply for the entire season countrywide, according to the officials.

Etienne Bagiramenyo, the president of a union of cooperatives of Irish potato farmers in Burera District, told Saturday Times that some Irish potato traders had started buying potatoes from farmers at the set prices but later temporarily stopped claiming they were selling at a loss in Kigali.

Bagiramenyo said Irish potato is a perishable commodity which can rot within a week after harvest if there are no proper storage facilities.

"If we got advanced cold room facilities, we would keep our produce intact for up to two months and then sell it without haste, which would allow us to have some bargaining power on the market,” he said.

Minister Munyeshyaka also urged all Irish potato collection centres – the points of sale where the produce is brought before it is transported to markets – to use accurate weighing scales to avoid cheating farmers.

Sources said the weighing scales that were in use previously made the farmer lose some 10 kilogrammes per sack.

After setting the new prices, the minister said some unscrupulous buyers still went through middlemen to trick farmers that they would buy their produce at higher prices yet they actually pay them less.

"A trader (middleman) gets Irish potatoes at Rwf70 from the farmer and then retail it at Rwf400 in Kigali markets like Kimironko,” Munyeshyaka said noting that such malpractices only benefit the trader – at the detriment of the farmer.

Call for proper management of cooperatives

The trade minister urged cooperatives to address poor management which has been characterised by cheating farmers’ produce and money when the Irish potato collection centres were still in the hands of private businesses.

Munyeshyaka said better management of cooperatives could help raise funds needed to put in place cold rooms.

"There is a collection centre that was cheating farmers about Rwf14 million per day. If such money was saved and the cooperative invested it in a cold room, it could help members handle their produce properly,” Munyeshyaka said.

"They (farmers’ cooperatives) have money, but it ends up in the hands of people who do not have interest in the cooperative or the whole value chain," Munyeshyaka said.

Agriculture minister Mukeshimana noted that there is need for investment in storage facilities to ensure that Irish potato produce is stored safely in the long-term.

She observed that such facilities are cost-effective and farmers and traders in potato business should do it professionally to maximise gains.

She said the government will work closely with farmers to find a sustainable solution.

But she encouraged big cooperatives to do their best and put in place cold rooms in two to three years time.

"You can be assured of government support but farmers and traders should own the effort and contribute toward achieving this objective," she said.

The minister said there are about 200 Irish potato cooperatives (each with a collection centre) across the country.

Rubavu, Nyabihu, Musanze and Burera districts are the main producers of Irish potatoes in the country.

From the collection centres, most of the produce is transported to

wholesale markets in Nzove (Nyarugenge District) and Mulindi (Gasabo District) in Kigali where they are accessed by licensed retailers who eventually sell them at different spots across the city, including markets.

The vice mayor in charge of economic development at the City of Kigali, Parfait Busabirwa, said that between 650 and 800 tonnes of Irish potatoes are supplied to the capital on a daily basis.

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