Publications /  The Potato, Treasure of the Andes
From Agriculture to Culture

"Asante (thank you) Ngai for such an abundant harvest," proclaims Johnson Gicheru, speaking to the god believed to inhabit the glaciers of Kirinyaga, or Mount Kenya. As he speaks, Gicheru clutches a shovel with his right hand, bandaged after the hard work in his potato fields.

A few miles away, Joseph Ngacha and his wife use drip irrigation to water their potato fields. Mixing modernity and mysticism, Joseph inspects the flowering plants while telling his granddaughter the story of Gikuyu who, according to a Kikuyu legend, was sent by the gods Ngai and Mumbi (the beautiful mother of all the Kikuyu) to found their tribe. The story says that Ngai and Mumbi gave birth to nine daughters in all, who became the mothers of the nine clans that have worked the land so skillfully ever since.

Both Gicheru and Ngacha sell seed potatoes to the farmers who supply markets throughout Kenya. In doing so, these small-scale potato farmers make a fundamental contribution to sub-Saharan Africa’s daily struggle against hunger.