Author

1. Contributing to Linking small –farmers to local and regional markets in vegetable marketing and trade Presenter Ronia Tanyongana Contributors Chris Ojiewo Takemore Chagomoka Victor Afari –Sefa For CTA – East Africa Briefing Entebbe 12-13 November 2010 Author \

2. About AVRDC About AVRDC • AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center is an international non-profit research and development institution committed to alleviating poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through the increased production and consumption of nutritious and health-promoting vegetables.

3. Our mission “Alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through increased production and consumption of nutritious, health-promoting vegetables”

4. Uzbekistan Korea Dubai Taiwan India Thailand Mali Niger Cameroon Tanzania Indonesia Solomon Islands Madagascar South Africa Our Locations Regional and project offices

5. Research and Development: Four global themes Germplasm Germplasm conservation, evaluation and gene discovery Breeding Genetic enhancement, varietal development, selection of indigenous lines, seed production Production Safe and sustainable vegetableproduction systems Consumption Postharvest management and market opportunities; nutritional security, diet diversification and human health

6. Strategy: Vegetable Value Chain Seed Commercialization, improving production & consumption systems Basic/foundation seed production Breeding, testing and release Vegetable production Post harvest Seed Breeding Seed production Seed testing Consumption & nutrition Markets Public & Private sector & Civic Society Private sector & Regulator RBUs & Regulator

7. EMPHASIS EMPHASIS Our Focus • Vegetables Based/Integrated Approaches for Improved Food and Nutrition Security in Africa

8. Why Vegetables? • Vegetables are companions to all staple foods during consumption. • Vegetables are key sources of nutrients and health-promoting phytocompounds • Vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins, iron, protein, minerals and fibre, as well as micronutrients (Bouis and Hunt, 1999):

9. The Double burden in Africa Perennial Problem Emerging problem

10. Why Vegetables? • Vegetables are high value crops and way for farmers to increase incomes and escape poverty • The vegetable industry is one of the most integrated which generates more cash income per area unit than other food crops of the agricultural sector (Weinberger and Lumpkin 2007). • Vegetables are of special importance to resource-poor women as they are high-value crops which can be grown on small household plots which are typically a woman’s responsibility.

11. Diversity of African Indigenous Vegetables African eggplant Ethiopian mustard Amaranth Jute mallow Okra Roselle African nightshade

12. Regional Breeding Units The RBU Team in Samanko Region Bamako - Mali The RBU Team in Alaotra Region Madagascar Part of the RBU Team in Arusha AVRDC-RCA The RBU Team in Yaoundé, Cameroon

13. Regional Breeding Support – Capacity Building Building capacity in seed health and quality Capacity building in vegetable breeding Understanding plant Pathology

14. AVRDC Africa Region Training Courses (1994-2010)

15. On-Station and On-farm Multi-location trials PVS: a fast tract approach to variety release and demand promotion in Tanzania Farmers in Dodoma and Iringa region selected African nightshade lines BG16 due to its late flowering habit and broad dark green leaves which they said makes it quite appealing as a leafy vegetable. Seeds of the line BG18, a Solanum americanum was also demanded.

16. Multi-location variety testing: Private Sector

17. Innovation Platforms Innovation Platform members of the vBSS Tanzania Hub on RCA field inspection Innovation Platform members of the vBSS Madagascar Hub planning vegetable breeding strategies for their country

18. Pending Releases in Tanzania Hub

19. Private Sector Engagement in Commercialisation of Vegetables Alpha Seeds - Tanzania LAGROTECH SEEDS - Kenya

20. Seed Commercialization East Africa Seeds Kibo Seeds East Africa GRN Sarl Cameroon SEMANA Madagascar

21. African eggplant is now a popular cash crop in Tanzania Farmers get on average $1,200/ha/season

22. From Farms to Markets; Adoption of improved variety ● Sweeter than traditional var. ● Higher income (2-3 times) Major constraints - No formal seed supply - Limited access to seeds

23. Linking Farmers to Markets Bvumbwe Market - Malawi Shoprite Madagascar

24. High value marketing of improved variety Line DB3 Linkage to high value markets

25. Demand Creation ACTIVITIES Field Days Agricultural Shows Seed fairs

26. Private Sector Engagement in Commercialisation of Vegetables Demand Creation of Vegetables - Dharsh Demand Creation of Vegetable seeds – Cains

27. Challenges • To define the value chain pathways in terms of income enhancement and nutrition improvement; • To coordinate stakeholder efforts along the value chain; • To address the issue of availability of good quality seeds, both at the national and regional level; • To ensure adequate foundation seed; • To improve business planning and forecasting by public and private partners; • To maintain variety quality through capacity building and strengthening the regulatory system;

28. Opportunities to support vegetable value chains • Accelerate the process of demand creation through education and capacity building for both exotic but more so indigenous vegetable varieties; • Uplift, where required, the regulatory environment and promote quality of operations, avoiding falling into a trap of over-regulation; • Instill and maintain an Innovative Systems (Network) Approach and create / strengthen a platform for private – public dialogue and planning for vegetable value chain management; • Encourage innovative processes of adoption both in producing improved varieties, post harvest technologies and marketing strategies