FAO helps Ugandan potato farmers make more money

Potatoes are not widely grown in Uganda but they could earn a farmer big if the right farming methods and good prices are in place.

Nathan Baryahisahe, the chairman of the Muko Expanded Irish Potato Producers Association says they now have 161 members and assist them in storing their harvested potatoes, taking them to the market and offering them improved seed.

Baryahisahe says the food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has assisted many farmers in Kabale and Kisoro start commercial Irish potato farming.

Charles Byarugaba heads Kamuganguzi potato growers association in Kabale. He says farmers used to heap their potato on roads for traders to come and pick them.

“They could take them at any price because farmers feared them to rot,” he says.

Byarugaba said FAO helped them mobilise and train them to become serious commercial farmers. The potatoes are mainly sold at Nandos restaurant in Kampala where FAO linked them.