Establish farmer producer groups. There is a significant opportunity to improve smallholder incomes by forming producer business groups. Driving best practices in these groups could address many of the production constraints and encourage several key improvements. For example, these groups’ structures facilitate access to credit and negotiations for better pricing of production inputs as well as the construction of storage systems. The structure also allows for the bulking of potatoes, lower-cost transportation, and more efficient dissemination of market information and extension services for smallholder farmers.

Moreover, through producer groups can help eliminate redundant transactions at the broker level. Examples of potential activities include the following – Help farmers to set up and strengthen business-oriented Producer Business Groups, not only among small-scale farmers (with less than 2 hectares of land per farmer) but also medium-scale farming enterprises (2 to 10 hectares of land per farmer) who serve as lead farmers who have demonstration plots. Create clear cost benchmarks that farmers are held accountable to in order access capital for investments that may be required, e.g. obtaining quality seed varieties, establishing a cold room storage system, can assist in the development of loan guarantees that enable the farmer groups to purchase seed, fertiliser, and pesticides at affordable loan credit terms.

Link groups with other value chain stakeholders (e.g. processors) who can provide seed in bulk and storage infrastructure. Set up market linkages between farmer groups and other nodes of the value chain, e.g. wholesalers and processors. The farmer producer groups structure allows more effective negotiation for fair prices and easier and less costly dissemination of market information.