Investment opportunities and challenges in the potato value chain in Uganda

Abstract

A seed potato shortage is identified as a major problem that affects the quality of potato production in the Kigezi subregion. There are two dimensions of shortfalls in supply: (i) the limited volumes of clean seed produced, and (ii) inadequacies in the supply of the appropriate potato varieties to support industrial-level processing into crisps and high-quality frozen chips. The study shows that Uganda needs to produce approximately 25,400 metric tons of quality seed valued at Ugx 28.1 billion (US$ 8.2 million). It reveals that some of the seed supplied by private seed producers is of low quality; only 47% of the seed multipliers are registered, which points to the weaknesses in the seed regulatory system.