GCAP is leading a DFID-funded project to develop climate services to increase the resilience of Kenya’s potato sector – working with our partners Climate Yetu, the Kenyan Meteorological Department, and the UK Met Office.
Kenya’s potato sector growing rapidly, and is the 2ndmost important food crop in the country, behind Maize. It is highlighted as part of the Kenyan Government’s ‘Big Four’ agenda. Currently, however, climate change is only weakly integrated into the sector, and there exists a huge opportunity to make improved use of climate information in business decisions to both increase production and reduce losses. When farmers suffer losses, primarily as a result of floods or drought, the impacts cascade along the value chain. Farmers suffer a direct loss of income, potato aggregators have to increase prices, and processors reduce production, and may ultimately be forced to lay off staff if they are unable to source enough potatoes at a reasonable price.
The project uses GCAP’s Climate Resilient Process Models as a tool to aid in the co-design of appropriate climate services for the potato sector. There is a particular focus on developing models to for financially sustainable climate services which will endure beyond the lifetime of the project. The outcome of the project is the improved use of climate information in business decisions in Kenya’s potato sector, and will contribute the expected project impact of increased resilience to climate impacts in the potato sector in Kenya.
