KENYA · GUIDE 0020 · EDITION 4.2
Sweet potato growing - Operations, capacity and quality
Deliver the agreed result consistently
Select a sweet potato offer for a specific cooking preference, distinguishing roots bought for boiling from those valued for another preparation before committing planting material.
The operating sequence for this offer is:
- Record sweet-potato planting material and buyer preferences for root size and flesh type before assigning the plot to a sales channel.
- Lift roots carefully, sort damaged or deteriorating material separately and measure the saleable weight after any agreed preparation or cleaning.
- Label the supplied grade, record freight and accepted weight, and keep unsold roots visible when evaluating the next planting decision.
Put acceptance into the job record
State variety and grade accurately; cut or rotten roots should not be hidden in a sack.
Ask the customer to cook trial roots in their normal way and describe texture, flavour and peeling effort, keeping these judgments linked to the planting source.
Inspect at the point where a correction is still possible, then again at handover. Record rejected or incomplete output separately from accepted output. A completed task is not automatically an accepted task, and an invoice does not establish that the customer received the right result.
Measure real capacity
Time preparation, the main operation, transport, cleaning, approvals and correction as applicable. The slowest stage determines how much you can promise. Where two orders need the same person, space or equipment at the same time, resolve the conflict before confirming both deadlines. An additional enquiry should not erase a commitment already made.
| Operating checkpoint | Evidence for this business |
|---|---|
| Before starting | Select a sweet potato offer for a specific cooking preference, distinguishing roots bought for boiling from those valued for another preparation before committing planting material. |
| During delivery | Lift roots carefully, sort damaged or deteriorating material separately and measure the saleable weight after any agreed preparation or cleaning. |
| At acceptance | Ask the customer to cook trial roots in their normal way and describe texture, flavour and peeling effort, keeping these judgments linked to the planting source. |
| At the pilot review | Record planting source, harvest condition, cooking feedback and paid grade split, retaining enough traceability to repeat the material customers accepted rather than merely its market name. |
Keep a correction and escalation rule
When inputs, access, specifications or customer instructions change, pause the affected work and confirm the effect on time and cost. Do not quietly lower the acceptance standard to avoid a delayed delivery. Keep rework caused by your error distinct from a customer-requested change of scope and agree the remedy clearly.
Yield alone can mislead when the chosen roots cook differently from the local preference, forcing discounts despite a healthy crop and apparently good harvest weights overall.
Retain the minimum records needed to investigate a complaint without disclosing unrelated personal information. Use measured delivery and actual acceptance as the basis for expanding capacity, rather than the maximum theoretical output of a tool or production line.