Tomato farming in Kenya exposes deep weaknesses within the country’s agricultural value chain. Farmers invest heavily in production, follow recommended practices, and often achieve good yields. However, many still incur losses once their produce reaches the market. This recurring problem highlights failures beyond farming skills or weather conditions. It points instead to poor coordination, weak market systems, and persistent policy gaps. In leading tomato-producing areas such as Kirinyaga County, farmers regularly experience severe market gluts. Many plant tomatoes at the same time, guided by similar rainfall patterns, irrigation schedules, and seed supplier advice. When harvesting begins, supply floods the market simultaneously. Demand fails to keep pace, causing prices to collapse within days.
At Kagio Market, farmers often arrive with truckloads of tomatoes only to find buyers offering extremely low prices. Transport costs, market fees, and labour expenses reduce any remaining margins. Some farmers sell at a loss to avoid returning home with spoiled produce. Others abandon their harvests altogether. This pattern repeats season after season. Farmers lack access to reliable production planning data. Few receive guidance on staggered planting or market demand forecasting. Without coordination, oversupply becomes inevitable rather than accidental.
Weak Marketing Systems and Rising Post-Harvest Losses
Marketing systems remain largely informal and fragmented. Most farmers sell individually through brokers who control access to buyers. Without collective bargaining power, farmers accept whatever prices are offered. Middlemen exploit oversupply conditions, knowing farmers lack storage facilities or alternative markets. Cooperative marketing offers a potential solution but remains underdeveloped. Many farmer groups lack governance capacity, financing, or aggregation infrastructure. Others operate only during peak seasons and collapse afterward. Without strong cooperatives, farmers cannot negotiate better prices or secure bulk contracts. Post-harvest losses further compound the problem. Tomatoes are highly perishable and require careful handling. However, most rural markets lack cold storage, pack houses, or shaded holding areas. Poor road networks delay transportation, while congestion at markets increases spoilage.
As produce deteriorates, buyers downgrade quality and reduce prices further. Farmers absorb these losses despite having little control over storage or logistics. The result is widespread food waste alongside rising food insecurity in urban and rural households.
Policy Gaps and Missed Opportunities for Value Addition
Value addition remains one of the most underutilised opportunities in Kenya’s tomato sector. Tomatoes can be processed into paste, sauces, or dried products that last longer and fetch better prices. Despite this potential, most farmers sell only raw produce. Processing facilities remain scarce, costly, or inaccessible to smallholders. Access to finance limits investment in processing and storage. Financial institutions view smallholder farming as high risk. Interest rates remain high, while loan requirements exclude many farmers. Without affordable credit, farmers remain trapped in low value production cycles. Imports also affect market stability. Cheaper tomatoes enter local markets during peak harvest periods. These imports depress prices further and undermine local producers. While consumers may enjoy short-term price relief, farmers bear long term income losses. Enforcement of seasonal import safeguards remains inconsistent. Institutional demand represents another missed opportunity. Schools, hospitals, prisons, and other public institutions consume large volumes of tomatoes daily. However, procurement systems rarely link directly with farmers. Instead, suppliers source through intermediaries, excluding producers from stable markets. Policy interventions have focused heavily on boosting production through inputs and training. Less attention has gone to market infrastructure, storage, and value chains. Yet marketing failures, not low yields, cause the greatest farmer losses. Data gaps further weaken planning, leaving policymakers reactive rather than proactive. For many households, tomato farming supports education, healthcare, and daily needs. When prices collapse, families face debt and financial distress. Women and youth farmers suffer the most due to limited capital and safety nets. Kenya does not lack agricultural potential. Farmers can produce sufficient tomatoes seasonally. What fails is coordination across production, marketing, and policy. Until these structural weaknesses are addressed, farmers will continue losing money after good harvests. Fixing the tomato value chain is essential for food security, rural livelihoods, and sustainable economic growth.
