Ziektes en gebreken uit Afrika

Excitement builds as we mark one year to the 13th World Potato Congress, set for Oct 26–30, 2026, at Sawela Lodge, Naivasha, Kenya. Keynotes and registration launch in Nov. Stay tuned for updates and sponsorship opportunities!

Kenya nears release of '3R' Late Blight-resistant potatoes after 20+ years of research by CIP & KALRO. Supported by 2Blades, Feed the Future & Simplot, the varieties promise higher yields, disease protection, and improved food security by 2026.

The James Hutton Institute introduced two PCN-resistant potato varieties, Malaika and Glen, in Kenya. Developed with international partners, they boost yields, support food security, and meet local farmers’ needs for fast-cooking, low-dormancy potatoes.

IITA, FAO & partners equip 12 African nations to detect/manage Potato Cyst Nematodes, a pest slashing yields & threatening trade, via training, diagnostics, awareness & regional cooperation to protect farmers’ livelihoods & potato production.

The 13th World Potato Congress will be held in Naivasha, Kenya, from October 26–30, 2026—the first in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hosted by NPCK and FreshCrop Ltd, the event will spotlight global potato innovations, food security, and trade.

Rwanda is now a key hub for seed potato trade in the Great Lakes Region, thanks to farmer-led innovations, Africa’s largest minituber facility, a national seed catalogue, and efforts toward regional integration and formal cross-border seed markets.

Solynta's potato varieties with high resistances against Late Blight provide Kenyan farmers with good yields, as demonstrated in a comparative field test during an extensive spray/no spray trial in Limuru, Kenya.

Elder Isaiah Buwah is growing potatoes for forty years in the Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. Having seen the impact from late blight first hand, he truly enjoyed the harvest of the first batch of - resistant - biotech potatoes.

The Zimbabwe Potato Micro-propagation Association (ZPMA) has spearheaded the resuscitation of seed potato production since this stalled around 2008. The current mandate is to substitute imported seed potato.

Potato farmers have welcomed the government’s on-going trials on the use of agricultural biotechnology in producing a new Irish potato variety resistant to the devastating late blight disease.

Corteva Agriscience launched Zorvec Encantia, a new fungicide that specifically targets late blight, a detrimental pathogen currently compromising potato growth in South Africa. The solution, based on Zorvec active, is the first member of a novel class of fungicides.

Free smartphone app Nuru helps African potato farmers to detect late blight (Phytophthora) and early blight (Alternaria) since 2021

With potato production in East Africa under increasing threat from the invasive and highly destructive potato cyst nematode (PCN) pest, an organic technology developed from banana plant waste material may well be the ultimate rescue.

Mustapha Baba Shehuri, minister of state for agriculture and rural development, says Nigeria will be among the world’s top three potato producing countries by 2025.

Potato tuber moth can be a potato producer’s nightmare. Fortunately, InteliGro’s extremely effective monitoring system not only help to control this pest successfully but allows producers to manage risks and reduce input costs over time.

Patrick Makuzwa has approached the High Court seeking an order canceling his contract with Cairns Foods and for the food company to compensate him to the value of USD 46 789 50.

Among the 152 isolates collected from symptomatic potato plants and tubers in different provinces in Algeria, 13 species of Fusarium and Neocosmospora were identified.

Imagine being a potato farmer in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Nigeria. On a small piece of land, which you depend on for food and income, you have spent months planting, weeding, and watering.