The Sweetpotato component focuses on improving the sweetpotato seed system in the Eastern Region of Uganda and the Lake Zone of Tanzania through technological, marketing, and institutional innovations. Here are the key points:

1. Vision: The project envisions sustainable sweetpotato seed systems that deliver timely, affordable, and high-quality seed of improved varieties with market-preferred traits to various types of seed clients. The goal is to reduce seed costs, deploy effective marketing strategies, and establish innovative institutional arrangements to increase access to certified seed.
2. Consolidation of Progress: The project builds on the progress made under the SweetGAINS project and collaborates with partners such as the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Uganda and TARI-Ukiriguru in Tanzania. It aims to address gaps in the sweetpotato seed value chain in the target areas.
3. Technological Innovation: The project focuses on enhancing the technical efficiency and cost-effectiveness of virus-free sweetpotato seed production. This includes optimizing protocols for virus cleaning, diagnostics, and germplasm sharing, as well as improving tissue culture maintenance and micro-propagation methods. The adaptation of production systems, such as sandponics and screenhouses, is also a key aspect.
4. Marketing Innovation: Efforts will be made to develop cost-effective demand-driven marketing strategies that enable commercial seed producers to brand, position, and communicate the quality of sweetpotato seed. The project will explore behavioral interventions and tools for customer segmentation, and guidelines will be provided to seed entrepreneurs for effective marketing.
5. Institutional Innovation: The project aims to institutionalize innovative seed delivery mechanisms, including seed producer associations and cooperatives. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) will be formalized to improve the efficiency of sweetpotato seed systems. Guidelines will be developed to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of these associations and cooperatives.
6. Theory of Change: The project envisions that technological innovations will lead to lower seed production costs, increased availability of virus-free material, and improved efficiency of sweetpotato seed systems. Marketing innovations will create demand for quality seed, and institutional innovations will strengthen seed delivery mechanisms. Collectively, these innovations will enhance the performance of the sweetpotato seed value chain in the target regions.

SWEETPOTATO aims to leverage technological, marketing, and institutional innovations to enhance the sweetpotato seed system in Uganda and Tanzania. The ultimate goal is to provide timely, affordable, and high-quality seed to farmers, contributing to food security and improved agricultural productivity in the region.