The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) organized the 3rd potato seed certification course from 17th – 21st August 2015 which attracted 24 participants from KEPHIS, KALRO, Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries (Bungoma, Bomet, Kericho, Meru, Nyeri and TransNzoia counties), private seed companies (Kisima Farm and Suera Flowers Ltd) and a potato co-operative society.

The quality of planting material is critical to crop productivity and development of an effective seed supply systems for small, medium and large scale farms. Quality planting material is high on the agenda of most potato producing countries. New insights and innovations in seed potato production often generate numerous options for improving local seed supply systems.
The Kenya government has put in place measures to ensure that supply of certified seed potato is enhanced. The measures include; capacity building, importation of certified seed potato, variety release and registration as well as those from the local production.

The broad objective of the training was to strengthen capacity in implementing a viable potato seed supply system to enhance potato value chains and contribute to food security. The training covered the following aspects:

• Concepts of seed production,
• Diseases and pests,
• Seed systems,
• Alternative seed production systems,
• Harvest and post-harvest handling,
• Quality assurance and seed certification.

At the end of the training the participants were presented with a certificate.
We thank the Kenya-Dutch Potato project for sponsoring some of the participants together with County governments of Bungoma, Bomet and Kericho. The SMAP and Center of Phytosanitary Excellence (COPE) for facilitation.