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Innovative and beneficial informal sweetpotato seed private enterprise in northern Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Rachkara

    (Gulu University)

  • David Paul Phillips

    (University of Greenwich)

  • Stephen Wamala Kalule

    (Gulu University)

  • Richard William Gibson

    (University of Greenwich)

Abstract

Research conducted in the informal sweetpotato seed (vines) supply system in the Gulu region, northern Uganda (2013–2015) revealed a diverse set of actors using private enterprise in a range of selling and marketing channels. The different channels offer an efficient and effective marketing system, providing different services and conveniences for farmers at different prices. The actors include local vine multipliers, traders, dry season root farmers, transporters and town sellers. The local multipliers and dry season root farmers grow crops during the dry season in swampy areas and sell the vines in the following rainy season to the many farmers who lack access to such areas and therefore lack vines to plant. The presentation and discussion of this case study adds to an expanding argument in the literature for increased attention to support actors in informal food crop sectors who are providing sustainable production and marketing systems on a platform of beneficial and innovative private enterprise. Through their commercial operations, vine multipliers and other actors can effectively meet the demand of customers and at the right time and place. With suitable dissemination programmes installed, these actors could also offer access to new varieties otherwise unavailable to the majority of farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Rachkara & David Paul Phillips & Stephen Wamala Kalule & Richard William Gibson, 2017. "Innovative and beneficial informal sweetpotato seed private enterprise in northern Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(3), pages 595-610, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:9:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s12571-017-0680-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-017-0680-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
    2. Shawn McGuire & Louise Sperling, 2016. "Seed systems smallholder farmers use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 179-195, February.
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    4. Thiele, Graham, 1999. "Informal potato seed systems in the Andes: Why are they important and what should we do with them?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 83-99, January.
    5. Jagwe, John & Machethe, Charles Lepepeule & Ouma, Emily, 2010. "Transaction costs and smallholder farmers’ participation in banana markets in the Great Lakes Region of Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 5(2), pages 1-16, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Louise Sperling & Conny J. M. Almekinders, 2023. "Informal Commercial Seed Systems: Leave, Suppress or Support Them?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Rahma I. Adam & Lone Badstue & Kirimi Sindi, 2018. "The dynamics of smallholder farmers’ acquisition and distribution of sweetpotato vines in the Lake Victoria Zone Region, Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(2), pages 339-350, April.
    3. Louise Sperling & Patrick Gallagher & Shawn McGuire & Julie March & Noel Templer, 2020. "Informal Seed Traders: The Backbone of Seed Business and African Smallholder Seed Supply," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Azunre, Gideon Abagna & Amponsah, Owusu & Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Mensah, Henry & Braimah, Imoro, 2022. "Urban informalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A solution for or barrier against sustainable city development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Gloria Otieno & Wesley Mlsna Zebrowski & John Recha & Travis William Reynolds, 2021. "Gender and Social Seed Networks for Climate Change Adaptation: Evidence from Bean, Finger Millet, and Sorghum Seed Systems in East Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, February.

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