Kenya: Ware Potato Prices Climb to 57–75 KES/kg Across Seven Towns in NPCK’s 13 October Readout
Ware potato prices in Kenya held at elevated levels in mid-October, with the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) posting its twice-weekly market readout on 13 October. The council’s survey of major towns shows prices ranging from 57 to 75 Kenyan shillings per kilogram, depending on the market and variety.
According to the NPCK readout, the highest prices were recorded in Mombasa at 73 KES/kg and in Kisumu at 68–73 KES/kg, with Isiolo close behind: 67–75 KES/kg for the Shangi variety and 65 KES/kg for Unica. Eldoret traded at 71 KES/kg, Nakuru at 67 KES/kg, and Meru at 62–71 KES/kg for Shangi. In Nairobi, the largest consumption market, ware potatoes sold at 57–65 KES/kg.
The October levels mark a sharp turnaround from the middle of the year. In a late-July compilation, the same council put Nairobi at 23 KES/kg, Eldoret at 32, Meru at 30, Mombasa at 31 and Kisumu at 36. Nairobi retail prices have therefore more than doubled in under three months, a rise the council has linked in its market updates to declining farm supplies as the long-rains harvest works through the chain.
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Trade press has documented the same trend from the wholesale side. FreshPlaza reported on 11 September that a 50-kg bag of potatoes was selling at 6,500–7,500 shillings (US$50–58) depending on origin, with retail prices in Nairobi reaching 80 shillings per kg as farm deliveries slowed. The NPCK publishes its ware potato prices twice a week precisely to give farmers and buyers a shared reference point for selling and buying decisions, a service it has run for years across the five core markets plus Isiolo and Nakuru.
The price firmness comes just weeks before Kenya hosts the 13th World Potato Congress, scheduled for 26–30 October at Sawela Lodges in Nakuru County. Organisers expect more than 1,000 delegates from over 60 countries, and market attention on Kenyan potato supply, seed systems and prices is likely to intensify around the event.
What to watch: whether Nairobi prices break above 70 KES/kg as congress-week demand adds to already thin supplies, and how quickly the short-rains crop in Central and Rift Valley regions reaches the market.
Sources: National Potato Council of Kenya, market prices readout, 13 October 2026 · NPCK ware potato price compilation, July 2026 · FreshPlaza, “Kenyan potato prices rise as farm supplies decline”, 11 September 2026 · NPCK / World Potato Congress 2026 event pages.
