Year: January 2016 – December 2019
Country/Area: Tanzania
Client: Comic Relief
Description:
CHIPS was a 4-year project aimed at improving the livelihoods of 20,000 smallholder potato farmers and 15,000 small scale potato retailers and food vendors in Tanzania. This was achieved through increasing productivity, efficiency, profitability and volumes of businesses involved in the potato value chains in response to market demand.
Project outcome:
- Effective collective marketing/procurement of outputs and inputs by strengthened formal and financially viable small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), trading associations and/ or cooperatives of Smallholder Farmers (SHFs), and Small-scale Retailers and Vendors (SRVs).
- Increased supply of market preferred potato and potato products by Smallholder Farmers, Small scale Retailers and Vendors.
- Increased competitiveness and efficiency of trading in potato and potato products through sustainable business consortia.
- Increased equitable involvement of women and youth in decision making and access to resources and benefits of potato value chain.
Achievements
- The project benefitted 33,049 (18,186 farmers, 14,963 retailers and vendors) potato farmers and other value chain actors directly.
- 1,157,041 potato mini-tubers and 437MT of clean potato seed was produced and distributed by institutions (TARI- Uyole and Beula Seeds Co. Ltd) contracted by the project to avail certified seed to farmers. This ensured that clean seeds was accessed by 3,837 farmers.
- 3,550 farmers accessed 4,819 MT of fertilizers through collective procurement of fertilizers from 15 input suppliers.
- A total of 207,365 MT of market preferred ware potato collectively procured by traders.
- Potato yields has changed from an average 8.8MT/ha to 13MT/ha while incomes from potatoes and potato products by farmers, retailers and vendors from GBP 58.1, 37.2 and 205.8 per MT in 2016/17 to GBP 77, 69 and 290 per MT in 2018/19.
