Development of a sustainable value chain systems for cucurbita species (Pumpkins) in Northern Uganda: A brief review

Pumpkin is one of the many African indigenous crops grown across Africa due to its nutritional and medicinal attributes. Despite its vast nutritional and medicinal values, pumpkin remains one of the neglected and underutilized species (NUS) in Northern Uganda. Pumpkin is considered a magic “crop” because almost all the parts are eaten ranging from leaves both dried and fresh, the pulp, seeds and can also be transformed into pumpkin flour which is rich in both macro and micro-nutrients important for treating cancer, diabetes, improving eyesight, and memory loss. The fight against malnutrition, food insecurity, poverty could be partially tackled if NUS like Pumpkin are improved and knowledge documented to help increase production and thier utilization. Key words: Food security, malnutrition, neglected and underutilized species, pumpkin