News on Food Trends from Africa

Droughts and flooding have become so common in some of the poorest places on Earth that the land can no longer sustain crops, the director of the World Food Programme’s global office has said.

The lack of quality seed for improved varieties has been attributed to the limited capacity of seed multipliers to produce enough to meet farmer’s demands.

To combat hunger and malnutrition, the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Potato Center (CIP) have extended their partnership for a further four years with a new memorandum of understanding (MOU)

Following the success of Food Africa and pacprocess MEA last year, concrete plans to expand this year’s duo of trade fairs have begun. Here, exhibiting companies can expand their contacts in Africa and the Arab region in a targeted manner.

The International Potato Center (CIP) has collaborated with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to release the KC Sweet Purple variety of sweet potato in an effort to tackle ongoing climate challenges facing farmers in Kenya.

Tanzania and the Netherlands have agreed to collaborate on developing a joint roadmap for the thriving seed potato ecosystem.

There are concerns among some economists that the price of frozen potatoes may increase, adding to already high food inflation in South Africa.

World Potato Congress Inc. has announced that World Potato Congress 2026 will be held in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme for the event is 'Developing Global Potato Partnerships for Enhanced Food Systems, Food Security and International Trade'.

McCain Foods Limited, one of South Africa’s leading frozen food manufacturers, has officially opened its Farm of the Future Africa in Lichtenburg, North West, the second of three locations planned by 2025.

El obtentor de patatas y exportador de semillas holandés HZPC ha completado un ensayo de salinidad en Egipto con la cosecha organizada a finales de enero.

Solynta and PepsiCo’s Ethiopia-based Foods Unit, Senselet Food Processing PLC (Senselet), have launched a project to introduce hybrid true potato seeds (HTPS) to Ethiopia.

For the first time, food and agriculture systems have taken center stage in the global climate negotiations. COP27 has advanced the global recognition of food and agriculture as both a climate culprit and solution.

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.

A capacity-building initiative that started in Kenya to fill gaps in the supply of high-quality early generation seed (EGS) is now spreading across Asia and many African countries

PepsiCo is finalising an investment proposal of approximately USD 40 million (ETB 2 billion) to expand its Senselet snacks business in Ethiopia, and is considering the possibility of further investments in the country.

Richard Mbaria makes a point at his potato in Kapsita village of Nakuru County, Kenya. The farmer has increased his production per acre thanks to training by a CARP+ project implemented in the area by Egerton University.

With almost 10 billion people to feed by 2050 and food production threatened by declining resources, global food security faces an immense challenge that needs to be addressed.

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.