Socio-economic contribution of the two commodities

Socio-economic contribution of the two commodities Both potato and sweetpotato make significant contributions to the socio-economic well being of the people of eastern and central Africa and Madagascar.
This is through providing raw materials for the local industries (agro-processing), poverty alleviation, improved nutrition, natural resource management and employment (see table 2.3).
There is also cross-border trade, and to a limited extent, export of the commodities to the foreign markets.

Potato
Potato has become a major food and cash crop in the highlands above 1,800 m and is a highly preferred food in urban areas where consumption is increasing rapidly.
High yields in a short growing season (90-120 days), high energy (216 MJ/ha per day) and protein production (1.4 kg/ha per day), make potato an attractive source of food and improved nutrition.
The crop is particularly suited to the land-scare farm households at higher elevations.
Average consumption in major producing areas of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda surpasses 100 kilograms per person per year.

Potatoes provide on-farm and off-farm employment and critical income to poor households as most potato for the market are produced by small, diversified farmers.
However, there are large commercial producers in Kenya and in a few other places. Marketing channels have been developed between producing areas and urban areas primary by small, independent traders and shippers.
Farmers in Kenya, Rwanda and Eastern Congo sell an average of 25 to 45% of their total output.
Middlemen receive an average of 15 to 60% of retail prices, depending on the costs and risks involved in marketing. An extreme case is D.R Congo where potato are shipped by air and sold in Kinshasa for ten times what farmers near the border with Rwanda receive.

However, it is misleading to suggest that potato marketing is similar to marketing of coffee or flowers for instance which are produced exclusively for sale. The bulk of marketed potatoes are sold in domestic markets by private traders while coffee or flowers are sold in foreign markets by state or private marketing agencies. Producer prices for potato are not, in most cases, subject to government intervention whereas producer price for coffee are.

A few hundred tons of potato produced in each country are marketed across the border between Kenya and Uganda, between Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Congo, between Rwanda and Uganda.
This is done by growers or itinerant traders. They carry them in baskets, bags or trucks. Potato imports in the region have steadily declined in volume during the last 30 years.
This is due to the fact that NARS in the region have developed and released high yielding and quality varieties to meet the local demands.
This has therefore contributed to forex preservation through import substitution. However, an unknown small quantity of potatoes imported from South Africa and/or Europe is still sold in few places such as Kinshasa, Antananarivo, Asmara, Addis-Ababa and Nairobi.

Potato processing into French fries and crisps particularly for urban markets has provided employment opportunities in cities as chips are very important in restaurants and snack bars. Processing has also contributed in reducing marketing costs and consumer prices due to the bulkiness and perishability of potato.

Direct government involvement in potato marketing is minimal. Where the government has declared official prices for potatoes as well as acceptable profits margins, it does not have the resource to enforce these measures. Still, the governments influence potato marketing through taxes and licences.

The economic significance of potatoes to farmers, consumers and entrepreneurs is affected by the rural producer-urban consumer price differentials.
These are the results of weak bargaining position of producers, especially at harvest or by the marketing costs and risks involved.

Sweetpotato:
Sweetpotato is the staple food crop in densely populated mid-elevation and highland regions north and west of Lake Victoria.
Elsewhere in the region, it is a secondary food crop: important for food security in specific seasons or in years when other crops fail.
Today, the crop is receiving increased attention in the region's production system because it can be grown on soils of limited fertility, is relatively drought tolerant, provides good ground cover, and is usually cultivated without fertilizer or pesticide. Moreover, planting and harvest periods are more flexible than those of maize and other grains.
The crop is particularly important in the "hunger months" before the main harvest. This provides a flexible source of food for households.
Sweetpotato has become even more important in areas where African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) and banana black sigatoka disease have devastated the production of these food crops.

It is an important source of calories (152 MJ/ha per day of edible energy) and is consumed by all age-groups but is particularly liked by young children, the most vulnerable to the vitamin A deficiency. The World Health Organization (WHO) studies have indicated that in some areas where sweetpotato is a major food source there is widespread vitamin A deficiency, yet theses areas suffer extensively from malaria epidemic, creating more vitamin A deficiency. Increased consumption of orange-fleshed sweetpotato roots and foods based on them could provide a significant proportion of the required dietary vitamin A intake. In addition, sweetpotato also provides ascorbic acid (17 mg/10g of edible portion of food) and contains important amino acid lysine, which is deficient in common foods such as rice.

The tender tips and young leaves of sweetpotato vines are eaten as vegetables in DR Congo but not in other PRAPACE countries. Vines are high in proteins and vitamins, and their use should be expanded. Vines are sometimes fed to livestock, particularly in central Kenya where small-scale dairying is well developed. Although more than 80% of the output in fresh form still goes for human consumption (boiled, roasted, fried and cooked with other foods), nearly 5% now serves as animal feed for pig production in Soroti, Uganda and other areas and for dairy cows in Kenya. There is also growing interest in processing sweetpotato for human consumption and other industrial products.

Sweetpotato is sold largely by small scale farmers frequently in small quantities in local markets, obtaining a flexible source of cash. The crop is also sold in urban markets, but the storage root deteriorates rapidly after harvest, so losses and costs are high. Farmers in Kumi, Uganda and other areas in the region have established contacts and markets with merchants and truckers and have specialized in commercial production and grow relatively large plots in monoculture.

Home or village-level processing of sweetpotato is on increase. In areas of eastern Uganda and western Kenya with a long, hot dry season, serious attacks by weevils limit the length of time roots can be stored in the ground. Farmers harvest, chip and sun-dry them as a way to preserve and store the crop. Dried products like Inginyo and Amukeke are quite common in eastern districts of Uganda and in other areas in the region. There is significant potential for new uses of sweetpotato flour and/or mashed as an ingredient in the production of a large number of products (chapati, mandazi, kabalagala, etc) which are usually made from imported wheat.

Sweetpotato marketing is informal throughout the region and it is not characterized by a rigid division of labour.
Negotiations are done at the time and place of sale. Sweetpotatoes are traded through diverse marketing channels, the largest percentage of roots are marketed through local, rural marketing networks. Trade across borders is limited due to the lack of market information and to bulkiness and perishability which discourage long-distance trade.

Government's participation in sweetpotato marketing is minimal.
Prices are set by supply and demand. However, local authorities impose taxes on marketing participants; trading permits are not always required.