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Fair prices for Irish potatoes in Rwanda

A new price-setting mechanism

Year of publication 2024

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 22 p.

Author Del Prete, D.; Mukaneza, C.;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Synopsis (short abstract) Rwanda is home to around 300 000 Irish potato smallholder farmers and is one of the top ten producers of Irish potatoes in Africa, with an estimated production of about 908 000 tonnes in 2022. They are readily available as they are grown in most regions and are a key crop for national food security. Irish potatoes are also a main food staple in the Rwandan diet thanks to their nutritional value and are culturally important in Rwandan cuisine. However, despite various policy efforts in place, market prices have risen so much so that they doubled in price from RWF 262 per kg in 2021 to RWF 561 per kg in 2023. Against this backdrop, the Government of Rwanda requested policy analysis support from FAO’s Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme to evaluate the current price-setting mechanism used to set the reference price that farmers can expect to fetch at “farm gate”. The study recommends a new formula to calculate a reference price that should include wholesale and retail prices, have up-to-date cost figures, and account for a simple inflation adjustment. It also recommends stakeholder meetings twice a year – at the beginning of each production season in February and September – up from only once a year, as Irish potatoes are prone to seasonal price volatility. As such, the proposed improvements to the price-setting mechanism would help ensure fair prices for Irish potato farmers.

Cite this content as:

Del Prete, D. & Mukaneza, C. 2024. Fair prices for Irish potatoes in Rwanda – A new price-setting mechanism. Rome, FAO. 

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd0585en

Language English

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