SWEET POTATO: A SOURCE OF INCOME FOR LOW-INCOME RURAL FAMILIES IN UGANDA

In Uganda, sweet potato is a major staple food.
Most of the production is from small-scale farmers.
The crop is extensively marketed but commercialization is more intensive in and around urban areas where prices compare well with those of other crops.
Significant market activity also takes place in rural areas although prices here are low.
The marketing of sweet potato is still constrained by factors such as its bulkiness and perishability, poor means of transport, lack of or poor roads, poor storage, poor marketing information system, and absence of processing.
These factors are partly responsible for the high price margins observed.
The national demand for sweet potato is high and increasing and the income elasticity of sweet potato is positive.
Even under low levels of use of external inputs, the profitability of sweet potato is high and could more than double where improved technology is used.
The competitiveness index of sweet potato in Uganda is slightly above that of cassava but lower than for bananas.
Uganda thus has a comparative advantage in sweet potato production.

Symposium on Tropical Root Crops in a Developping Economy

B. Bashaasha, R.O.M. Mwanga

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.380.83