The Highlands of East Africa include Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. It is a tropical area where approximately 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Helping small farmers improve their yield and thereby their livelihood is key because the population increases faster than local food production.
Planting leftovers
One major problem is that few of the local farmers have access to clean and healthy seed. ‘For many crops, the majority of small farmers rely on planting leftovers from the previous harvest’, says Dr. Ian Barker, Head of Agricultural Partnerships at Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. ‘Maybe less than 1% uses quality seed. The seeds could be 20 to 30 years old. This results in an average potato yield of 5.3 – 8.9 tons a hectare. It should be at least 25 tons. And production is actually declining. So we have a lot of people and an important crop. What are we going to do about this?’
Partnering up
Syngenta is a Swiss foundation that globally works with partners to increase incomes of small farmers in developing countries through innovation and sustainable agriculture. One of their projects is all about improving access to quality seeds of modern varieties. This project, called Seeds2B, concerns all crops but the potato has priority.
Ian Barker explains: ‘In the East African Highlands potato is the second food crop after maize, but it contains more significant nutritious values. Also it is consistent, has a short cycle and is drought resistant. So if we can help these small farmers achieve better yields, potatoes are sure to deliver food security and cash.
Looking for partners in potato variety innovation, particularly for the fast growing processing sector, you inevitably look to Europe including the Netherlands. It is not just about the seed. In working together we get access to the knowledge of growers and an infrastructure that has been existing for over a hundred years!’
Read the complete story at HZPC Inzpire
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See also:
- Ethiopia Launches Agricultural Extension Strategy
- Ethiopia to Introduce System to Prevent Illegal Practices on Coffee
- Innovative ICTs for Scaling-up Agricultural Technology in Ethiopia