Nigeria

In the potato world, Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, stands out: it is the fourth biggest producer of potato in sub-Saharan Africa, has almost as much land under potato as Germany, and potato output has grown sevenfold over the past decade, reaching 843 000 tonnes in 2007.

The main potato growing area is the Jos plateau, where altitudes ranging from 1 200 to 1 400 m and summer temperatures that rarely exceed 35°C make for a temperate climate well suited to potato production. However, productivity is constrained by a lack of suitable varieties, and high land and labour costs. In fact, Nigeria records one of the world's lowest average potato yields, little more than 3.1 tonnes per hectare.

Potato consumption is also very low, at around 3.2 kg per capita per year. However, Nigeria's taste for potatoes, especially in rapidly growing urban areas, is increasing - since 2000, imports of raw and processed potatoes have risen from less than 9 000 tonnes to 40 000 tonnes a year.