With 40 percent of seeds in Uganda counterfeit, farmers struggle to increase yields

Farmers in [the] Lango, Teso and Karamoja sub-regions [in Uganda] have expressed concern over counterfeit seeds that are widely available on the market. The farmers say they have been duped into buying the fake seeds on the open market, expecting to get good yields yet they never sprout.

Agricultural experts and civil society blame the challenge on the absence of [a] national seed policy. Currently, between 30 percent and 40 percent of seeds on the market are estimated to be counterfeits.

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Ms Deborah Atebo, the programme manager of Church of Uganda Teso Diocese Planning and Development Office (COU -TEDDO), says the problem of fake seeds cuts across the entire north-eastern region.

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“Farmers are duped; they buy seeds, expecting to get good yields but at the end of the season, they barely get anything. This has impacted …. their productivity and I believe this has greatly contributed to the poverty in Teso,” Ms Atebo says.

Christopher Komakech of the Aridland Development Programme, a local NGO, says …. there is no policy framework that local authorities can use to monitor and eliminate the fake seeds.

Read full, original article: Uganda: Farmers Blame Rise in Fake Seeds On Govt’s Poor Policy