News on Food Trends from Rwanda

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.

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.

CIP and RAB are focusing their efforts in this area to release varieties that are high-yielding, pest and disease resistant, and climate-resilient.  But is this enough to overcome the low potato yields faced by Rwandan farmers?

A Rwandan entrepreneur is pioneering the use of innovative farming technology that, he believes, is set to play a major role in feeding the growing population in his country, amid increasing pressure on arable land.

The Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has started testing True Potato Seeds, which are produced by Solynta, a Dutch firm that develops hybrid potatoes. True Potato Seeds are collected from the berries or fruits of the potato plant.

During his presentation at the official opening of the 11th African Potato Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, World Potato Congress President Romain Cools announced the continuous effort of his organization to be a partner of the African potato sector.

Potato organizations on Monday called for deliberate efforts to increase potato and sweet potatoes production for sustainable nutritious food systems in Africa.

BlackPace Africa Group has bought Ndiyo Business Group, a major producer of salted potato chips in Rwanda.

The International Potato Center (CIP) and BlackPace Africa Group (BPA) executed a Technical and Scientific agreement to advance potato production in Africa, with focus on Rwanda.

Pascal Murasira, co-founder and managing partner of Rwanda-based Hollanda FairFoods, tells about the opportunities and challenges for his company that manufactures potato chips under the brand name Winnaz.