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1. Silage Based Diets: A Potential Investment
Opportunity To Address Challenges In The
Sweetpotato And Pig Value Chains In Uganda
Marsy Asindu
Makerere University
10th October 2016

2. Presentation outline
 Introduction
 Objectives
 Materials and Methods
 Main findings
 Conclusions

3. Introduction
 Sweetpotato is an important crop in Eastern Africa and a major
staple food in Uganda.
 Uganda produces 1.8 million MT from 440.000 hectares.
Sweetpotato is used as food, livestock feed and, at less extent, in
industrial processes to make alcohol and starch.
 High priority to sweetpotato research consequently resulting in the
release of several varieties over the years.
 However, recent studies show that sweetpotato potential as an
animal feed has not been fully exploited in Uganda (CIP, 2012).

4. Introduction cont’d
 Sweetpotato production is positively associated with pig production
(Huang, 2003).
 In Uganda about 1.1 million households own an estimated 3.2 million
pigs, primarily managed as a backyard activity (UBOS, 2009).
 Among these households sweetpotato residues are the preferred
fodder (Ouma et al., 2014).
 Since the availability of this residues is highly seasonal, adoption of
technologies that conserve feeds such as sweetpotato silage would go
a long way to reduce seasonal feed shortage.
 However, success of the silage technology is dependent on the
availability of vines and rejected sweetpotato roots, thus this study.

5. Objectives
General objective
To assess the production and utilization of sweetpotato products and
the relationships between pig and sweetpotato value chains actors in
two major pig production districts of Uganda, Kamuli and Masaka
Specific objectives
 To map out the sweetpotato value chain
 To estimate the amount of sweetpotato root and vine wastage by
chain actors
 To identify challenges and opportunities for investment in
sweetpotato silage making

6. Materials and Methods
 Study area: Kamuli in the Eastern region and Masaka in
the Central region
 Sample procedure: multistage sampling technique
 Sample size: 240 interview respondents, 180 FGD
participants and 2 key-informants
 Data collection: FGDs, Key-informant interviews (guided
by semi-structured checklist) and structured questionnaire
 Data analysis: qualitative and quantitative

7. Main findings
Sweetpotato value chain map

8. Sweetpotato production and utilization
Sweetpotato vine and root yield in Kamuli and Masaka districts
Season Average land
allocated (acres)
Vine yield
(kg/acre)
Root yield
(kg/acre)
% Big
roots
% Small
roots
% Low
quality
roots
Season 1 0.95 (0.6) 1487.6 (1156.9) 2526.8 (1204.9) 54.6 27.7 17.7
Season 2 0.96 (0.4) 3464.8 (1310.7) 2536.9 (931.6) 48.5 32.0 19.5
Average 0.95 (0.4) 2476.2 (924.2) 2531.9 (897.7) 51.5 29.9 18.6

9. Utilization of sweetpotato components by farmers
Sweetpotato
component
Usage (%)
Food Planting
material
Animal
feed
Sell Manure Given to
neighbours
Thrown
away
Big roots 67.5 0.0 0.0 32.5 0.0 0.0 0.0
Small roots 72.6 0.0 21.3 3.0 0.0 0.1 3.0
Low quality roots 16.9 0.0 59.5 0.6 0.4 0.8 21.8
Peels 0.0 0.0 82.7 0.0 5.2 1.0 11.1
Vines 0.0 28.6 44.2 2.2 0.6 0.2 24.2
Sweetpotato production and utilization

10. Wastage by SP farmers
 SP Farmers waste on average 599.2kg of vines per acre per season
 Vine wastage is higher for farmers without pigs (710.7kg) compared to
the ones with pigs (541.4kg)
 Kamuli district has a higher wastage of vines compared to Masaka
(672.2kg vs 522.3kg)
 About 4.95% of the farmer’s total harvested roots is thrown away
(125.3kg per acre per season)
 About 11.1% of peels produced at farm level is wasted (45.3kg per acre
per season) and an additional 5.2% is used as low value green manure
(21.3kg per acre per season)

11.  SP Traders throw away 3.75% of their entire root stock due to
spoilage and damage during transportation (particularly in Feb and
Aug-Dec)
 Some traders have arrangements with local pig farmers who
purchase deteriorated roots at a reduced price (as low as 50 UGX/kg)
 Traders deal with vines only meant to be sold to farmers as planting
material, not as feed. Just a few traders (5%) reported wastage of
vines
Wastage by SP traders

12. SP Processors
 Peelings given to animals mostly pigs. Those without pigs give it
away to neighbouring pig farmers for free or at an average price of
UGX 22 per kg
SP Consumers
 Peelings given to animals particularly pigs. Those without livestock
throw them away or give to neighbours with animals free of charge
 Institutions collect and pack peelings in sacks in fresh or dry form
and sell to livestock farmers, especially pig farmers at UGX 10 to 30
per kg depending on the season
Wastage by SP consumers

13.  Almost all pig farmers (98.3%) actively engaged in sweetpotato
production
 Those not growing sweetpotato or in short supply obtain vines and low
quality roots from neighbouring farmers for free or at a very low price
 Those in peri-urban areas purchase deteriorated roots from urban traders
(UGX 174/kg)
 No vines are purchased from traders. Conversely, peels from farmers,
processors, individual consumers and institutions are purchased
 Some wastage during feeding (selective)
Pig farmers feeding challenges

14. Proportion of pig farmers facing feed scarcity by month
28.3
40.0
68.3
76.7
83.3
68.3
38.3
10.0
6.7
3.3 3.3 3.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Percenageofpigfarmers
Months
At time of feed scarcity, farmers supplement the limited feedstuff
available on-farm, often of lower nutritional value (i.e., rotten mangoes
and jack fruits) with commercial maize bran
Maize bran is of poor quality and very expensive (av. 602 UGX/kg with
peaks of 950 UGX/kg)

15.  The use of sweetpotato residues for livestock and particularly pig feeding is a
common practices
 Nevertheless a substantial amount of vines, roots and peelings are wasted,
particularly at farm level and by those without pigs
 Key challenges for SP farmers include the non-existence or underdeveloped
nature of the market of vines for feed, short shelf-life of sweetpotato roots and
vines, and low prices offered for roots during peak seasons
 Pig farmers are constrained by scarcity of vines and roots during off-seasons
and lack of knowledge on conservation technologies
 Sweetpotato silage making has the potential to translate these challenges into
opportunities for the benefit of both SP and pig value chain actors
 On going research is assessing farmers’ willingness-to-pay and its economic
viability
Conclusion

16. THANK YOU!