Purpose: Potato is a major food staple in Africa, but its production is constrained by poor quality of seed. A recent private–public partnership in Tanzania resulted in introduction of new higher yielding varieties. The purpose of this paper is to examine smallholder farmers’ motivations to invest in the purchase of quality seed of new potato varieties, and if the motivational structure differs by gender. Design/methodology/approach: The paper used means-end chain (MEC) theory combined with goal priming, and laddering interviews on randomly sampled participants (n=45) of an experimental auction conducted among smallholder farmers in Tanzania. The auction was designed to goal-prime respondents on benefits of quality seed. The mental constructs obtained were grouped into attributes, consequences and values, and MECAnalyst software used to generate hierarchical value maps. Findings: Farmers invest in quality seed of a new variety to increase yields, hence income, and also to pursue personal life goals (values) or meet psychosocial needs. The structure of mental constructs associated with the decision to invest in quality seed of a new variety differ by gender. Research limitations/implications: The study focused on only two new varieties, hence not robust to all new potato varieties. Results need to be tested under different socioeconomic contexts. Furthermore, the MEC approach does not allow for control of other variables that likely influence farmer adoption decision-making process. Future studies should be designed to tackle these limitations. Practical implications: Investment in quality seed of new variety is driven by monetary goals and psychosocial factors, and some of these factors differ between male and female farmers. Originality/value: This is the first study to explore drivers of farmers’ decision to use quality seed of a new variety using MEC analysis, and role psychosocial factors play.

The availability of quality seed to smallholder farmers for most crops in sub‐Saharan Africa is a problem due to low production and availability of certified seed. Ethiopia has adopted quality declared seed (QDS) certification protocols for arable crops including potato. However, the procedure sets that only 10% of seed fields submitted to certification as QDS are inspected by external inspection. Consequently, a survey was conducted in Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ (SNNP) regions in Ethiopia to determine the reliability of quality control in potato QDS done through only visual assessment by determining the incidence of latent Ralstonia solanacerum ( Rs ) infection among farmer seed group cooperatives (FSGCs) and individual decentralized seed multipliers (IDSM). Tuber samples were collected from 446 potato fields in selected districts for both seed and ware potato producers. Data revealed that all the varieties collected in the study were equally prone to latent Rs infection. The proportion of latent Rs infected fields was highest in SNNP (39.6%) and least in Amhara (10.8%) region. Latent Rs infection was as high in samples collected from fields of FSGCs as in home‐saved or local seed (20.5%) and lowest among IDSM (8.7%). These data reveal that certifying potato QDS visually as the current practice in Ethiopia is inadequate for seed health assurance and a recipe for disseminating Rs . To contain further spread of the disease, therefore, all seed classes including QDS in Ethiopia should be tested for latent Rs infection if they are to be formally distributed.

Poor access to healthy, high-yielding planting materials hampers potato production in East and Central Africa (ECA). The need to improve the quality and increase the quantity of seed potato available to farmers has been the basis of previous efforts in the subregion. One bottleneck in the seed value chain is the low quantity of early generation seed (EGS) for further multiplication. To break this bottleneck, the International Potato Center (CIP) and local partners introduced two rapid multiplication technologies (aeroponics and rooted apical cuttings) and an improved conventional system (sand hydroponics). These three technologies differ in terms of multiplication rates, investment costs, profitability, required skills, infrastructure, risks, and linkages to the rest of the seed value chain, with its actors, policy environment, plus supply, and demand. The three introduced technologies have helped to increase the supply of certified or high-quality seed in the region over the last decade. However, for successful scaling, the technologies have to be carefully selected based on their situation and their natural and economic environments.

Smallholder potato farmers in Ethiopia do not realize the theoretical yield potential of the crop because they do not benefit from the advantages of using quality seed potato of improved varieties. The high disease incidence in seed potatoes has large implications on the potato farming system since the country lacks appropriate seed quality assurance mechanisms. Seed potato quality assurance relies more on the technical support provided by the national research and extension systems than the official seed certification agency. This paper elaborates systematic challenges and opportunities within the potato seed system and poses two research questions: (1) What type of seed quality assurance mechanisms (informal, quality declared, certified) are under implementation in Ethiopia? (2) How does the current seed quality assurance system operate in terms of reliability, accessibility, and quality standards to deliver quality seed potato? The data were collected through face-to-face in-depth key informant interviews with various seed regulatory laboratory managers and technicians in the Oromia, SNNP, and SWEP regions in the main seed- and ware-producing areas of Ethiopia. This was complemented by a comprehensive analysis of relevant documents. The findings show that currently there is no established procedure in place to officially certify early-generation seed potatoes. Two out of six seed quality control laboratories assessed for this study inspected seed potato fields in 2021 but as quality declared seed (QDS), and approved the fields inspected based on visual inspection alone. Our study revealed a weak linkage between early-generation seed (EGS) potato producers, commercial, and QDS seed potato producers, and seed quality control laboratories. Seed potato quality assurance operations were carried out by only a few seed regulatory laboratories with several concerns raised over the effectiveness of quality standards since seed-borne diseases, such as bacterial wilt, have been found at high frequency in the country’s seed potato system. Hence, the current procedures and challenges call for the necessity of upgrading current quality assurance in seed potato certification. Our study underlines the need for policymakers, development partners, and researchers to collaborate and pool efforts to consider transforming the quality declared system to appropriate seed certification. We recommended that institutionalizing novel plant disease diagnostics into seed regulatory frameworks is needed for sustainable potato production and food security in Ethiopia.

Potato is among the strategic food security commodities in Ethiopia, and the country possesses the highest potential for its production across Africa. Smallholder potato farmers in Ethiopia do not realize the theoretical yield potential of the crop because they do not take the benefit and advantages of using quality seed potato of improved varieties. High disease incidence in seed potato has large implications on potato farming system since the country lacks appropriate quality assurance mechanisms. Seed potato quality assurance relies heavily on the technical support provided by the national research and extension systems than the official seed certification agency. This paper elaborates systematic challenges and opportunities of the seed systems relevant to potato and interrogates two research questions: 1) What type of seed quality assurance mechanisms (informal, quality declared, certified) are under implementation in Ethiopia? 2) How does the current seed quality assurance system operate in terms of reliability, accessibility, and quality standards to deliver quality seed potato? The data were collected through face-to-face in-depth key informant interviews with various seed regulatory laboratory managers and technicians in Oromia, SNNP and SWEP regions in the main seed and ware producing areas of Ethiopia. This was complemented by a comprehensive analysis of relevant documents. The findings show that currently there is no established procedure in place to officially certify early-generation seed potatoes. Two out of six seed quality control laboratories assessed for this study inspected seed potato fields in 2021 but as quality declared seed (QDS), and approved the fields inspected based on visual inspection alone. Our study revealed a weak linkage between early generation seed (EGS) potato producers, commercial and QDS seed potato producers and seed quality control laboratories. Seed potato quality assurance operations were carried out only by few seed regulatory laboratories with several concerns raised over the effectiveness of quality standards since seed-borne diseases such as bacterial wilt have been found at high frequency in the country’s seed potato system. Hence, the current procedures and challenges call for the necessity of upgrading current quality assurance in seed potato certification process. Our study underlines the need for policymakers, development partners, and researchers to collaborate and pool efforts to consider transforming the quality declared system to appropriate seed certification. We recommended that institutionalizing novel plant disease diagnostics into seed regulatory frameworks are needed for sustainable potato production and food security in Ethiopia.