ABSTRACT
Vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) include some of those most commonly cultivated in the region of Eastern Africa and are considered vital for food security. Most notable are Musa (banana and plantain), potato, cassava, sweet potato and, to a lesser extent, yam and taro. However, in review of this subject it is worth stating that while it may be useful to cluster these crops with respect of commonalities of propagation and in that they constitute key staple crops, substantial differences exist between them in terms of their optimum climatic needs, resilience to adverse factors, seasonality of production and added-value market potential. To appreciate the nature of these differences is as important as commenting on their similarities in trying to bring together a coherent analysis for progressing vegetative seed systems. Figure 8.1 provides an analysis of production and area data for these crops for Eastern African countries over the past 50 years. Comparison of VPCs of Eastern Africa (source: FAO crop production data, 2009; listed East African countries only, excluding non-mainland countries). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203114742/458ceac4-9311-4da9-8a01-591bf50185a4/content/fig8_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
