Potato News from Africa

Irish potatoes have prevented another major humanitarian food crisis in one of the poorest and most remote parts of Ethiopia, according to aid organization Concern Worldwide.

Kenyan farmers are facing a shortage of certified seed potatoes following the rejection of 78 percent of the planting materials that had been imported last year.

Food processing and packaging solutions provider tna has appointed Matthew Walters as branch manager to head up its African operations.

Egypt has succeeded in opening new markets for agricultural crops, including potatoes.

The Nile Egyptian Co. for Foodstuff Ind is planning to invest worth EGP 10m (about USD 6 million) in a new factory to process potatoes next year.

McCain Foods South Africa claims in this advert that it produces the country's 'number one' chip. However, the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) told them to remove the ads with immediate effect because the claim is simply not true.

An acute shortage of potatoes has hit Nyandarua County, a top producer of potatoes in Kenya and in fact, the entire country is suffering from a shortage.

La inocuidad alimentaria se perfila como un desafío internacional para evitar 420.000 muertes y 600 millones de casos de enfermedades al año en el mundo.

Restaurants in Kenya are reeling from an acute shortage of Irish potatoes with the Agriculture ministry putting the supply gap at 1.7 million metric tonnes.

In Nigeria, the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, attended the official start of the construction of a Potato Tissue Culture Laboratory in the Mangu Local Government Area.

The Algerian Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries Abdelkader Bouazghi said that Algeria would stop the import of seed potatoes in 2021

Recently, a new box storage system installed by Mooij Agro in Algeria at Agrico Algérie was inaugurated in the presence of the Dutch Ambassador in Algeria, Mr. Robert van Embden and the local governor.

The county Nyandarua in Kenya has received a Sh116 million (€1 million; USD 1.16 million) grant from the European Union to boost potato farming.

The permanent secretary in the ministry of Agriculture, Mr Mathew Mtigumwe, and the Dutch Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Jeroen Verheul, signed the document on behalf of the two governments.

Victoria - a popular local potato variety in Uganda - is extremely susceptible to potato Late Blight disease, but a resistant GM version of this variety has been developed.
With testing almost complete, it is up to the government biosafety regulatory authorities in Uganda.

Based on extensive trials (two years, three separate farms, ten potato varieties) in a joint effort of AHDB, James Hutton Ltd, SASA and Seeds2B Africa (part of the Syngenta Foundation) three GB potato varieties have been recommended for release in Kenya.

Potato farmers in Nyandarua (Kenya) have approved regulations for Irish potatoes production, handling and marketing.

In Rwanda, the Ministry of Agriculture and partners have pledged to establish modern seed potato warehouses and greenhouses to ensure the supply of quality seed potatoes.