It’s one thing to design a venture on paper. It’s another to step into the field and hear a farmer say:

“We’ve been waiting for something like this!”

That’s exactly what happened when Chebet Diana, one of Rootical’s 2025 Founders-in-Residence, brought 25kg of Rwangume Irish potato seed to Kapchorwa.

Clean. Traceable. Confidently branded under Sebei Irish Seed Limited with the slogan: “For Sebei farmers.” (Sebei is the name of her community).

For Diana, this wasn’t just a sale. It was her “aha” moment. A sign that the seed she was planting wasn’t only biological, it was social, economic, and cultural too.

The Potato Problem in Kapchorwa

Kapchorwa sits on fertile slopes in eastern Uganda, where Irish potatoes are a livelihood, a staple food, and a cultural anchor.

But there’s a hidden story behind those green fields: poor-quality seed. Farmers often depend on untraceable suppliers who deliver late, charge high prices, and provide seed with low germination rates. Transporting potatoes from faraway towns only adds to the cost and the risk.

The result? Low yields. High frustration. Farmers working hard, but not seeing the returns.

That’s the systemic gap Diana stepped into:

👉🏽 Farmers need clean, affordable, high-germination seed they can trust.

👉🏽 But they also need it close to home.

From Idea to Action

This is where Rootical’s systemic venture building comes in.

We ask founders to dream ideas and push them into the field to test them fast, real, and ready for feedback.

Diana entered Kapchorwa market with two assumptions:

Farmers will pay or preorder quality seed when they can see and trust it.
Branding and packaging aren’t superficial; they build farmer confidence.

Instead of guessing, she put those assumptions to the test. She arrived with 25kg of clean potato seed, visibly branded for Sebei farmers.

And then she listened.

Dianah Chebet making her first sale to one of the farmers in Kapchorwa.

Rapid Testing in the Field

The response was electric. Farmers didn’t just nod politely or say, “we’ll think about it.” They acted.

Some bought seeds on the spot.
Others placed preorders, 10 confirmed, with more expected.
Almost all were buzzing with excitement, asking when more would arrive.

For a founder, this is gold. Not just interest, but proof. Proof that the problem is real, that the solution resonates, and that the market is ready.

💬 As Diana put it: “Seeing is believing. When farmers touched the seed and saw where it came from, something shifted. There was trust. Confidence. Excitement.”

Lessons From the Rapid testing

Of course, there were gaps. Diana could have carried more samples. She could have prepared flyers or tested earlier.

But that’s the point of rapid testing: to learn by doing. Not by perfecting slides, but by stepping into the imperfect, unpredictable field reality with farmers.

Here’s what Diana learned that day:

✅ Farmers will invest in quality when they clearly see the value.

✅ Branding and packaging carry more weight than expected.

✅ Trust grows fastest face-to-face, when people can touch, see, and ask questions.

This isn't a theory. It’s practice. And it’s why Rootical insists that founders test and fail early, often, and directly with the communities they’re serving.

Beyond the Seed: A Systemic Shift

Diana’s vision isn’t just to sell potatoes. It’s to build a community-rooted seed multiplication and distribution model that will be an entry-point to regenerate potato farming in Kapchorwa and beyond.

Her design challenge

🌱 Produce high-germination Irish potato seed from clean sources.

🌱 Build confidence through branding, visibility, and local trust.

🌱 Cut dependency on distant, unreliable suppliers.

The result is more than higher yields. It’s resilience. Farmers spend less, earn more, and reinvest in their communities. The benefits ripple outward to families, markets, and even landscapes.

Why This Matters for Uganda’s Food System

Zoom out, and Diana’s story connects to a much bigger picture.

Uganda’s food system faces multiple stresses: soil degradation, unreliable markets, climate shocks, and low farmer incomes. At the heart of many of these challenges is seed. Poor seed quality leads to poor harvests, which lock farmers into cycles of vulnerability.

By localizing seed systems, ventures like Diana’s address more than yield. They tackle food security, economic resilience, and trust in the system itself.

That’s why Rootical pushes beyond “sustainable.” We build for regeneration. Ventures that restore trust, replenish resources, and create abundance rather than scarcity.

Building With Purpose

Watching Diana in Kapchorwa reminds us what venture building really looks like: rolling up your sleeves, carrying dusty bags of seed, listening deeply, and testing ideas with real people.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not perfect. But it’s real.

💡 Diana’s biggest takeaway? “Farmers are willing to invest when they see value. The seed speaks for itself, but packaging, visibility, and trust carry it across the line.”

Reflection

If you’re building for your community, dream and build, but most importantly: Test and Listen.

Not on whiteboards, but in fields, markets, and conversations. Ask the hard questions. Let your customers surprise you. Invite them to prove you wrong.

Because systemic change doesn’t happen in theory. It happens when an idea touches the ground and when farmers, consumers, or communities say: “We’ve been waiting for this.”

We believe this is how ventures grow, not only as businesses but as building blocks of a regenerative future for Uganda’s food system.

“We’ve Been Waiting for This!”: Chebet Diana’s First Market Test in Kapchorwa