09/03/2017

Kigali, Rwanda

On 25 November 2015, as part of the EU project Strengthening linkages between small actors and buyers in the roots and tubers sector in Africa, a two days sub-regional workshop on improving farmers’ access to quality seed potato was organized in Kigali, Rwanda.

In response to the lack of access to quality seed potato, which is a major bottleneck in the development of the Irish potato sector in the region, the workshop brought together actors in the seed potato value chain from Uganda and Rwanda as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Kenya.
The objective of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders engaged in the seed potato system in East Africa, particularly in Rwanda and Uganda, with a view toward improving the potato value chain.

The opening ceremony was chaired by the FAO Representative of Rwanda, the Representative of the EU to Rwanda and the Project Coordinator of the African Roots and Tubers project.

The workshop discussed and yielded interesting insights into possible pathways and actions on four main themes: the current situation and policy framework, increasing local commercial seed production, improving quality in the informal seed sector, and the role of research.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/3/a-bo106e.pdf