World Potato Congress: Percy Misika (FAO) to deliver keynote speech

During the 9^th World Potato Congress, Mr. Percy Wachata Misika, a UN-FAO official, will address global food and agricultural issues in one of the keynote speeches

Mr. Percy Wachata Misika, a national of Namibia, holds a Diploma in Agricultural Extension from the Cwaka Agricultural College, South Africa, a Bachelor of Agricultural Administration majoring in Agricultural Economics from the University of the North, Transvaal, South Africa and a M.Sc. in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading, United Kingdom.

Mr. Misika started his career in 1980 as Administrative Assistant in the Department of Health and Welfare in Namibia. In 1991, he was appointed Chief Agricultural Training Officer under the Ministry of Agriculture. By 1995 Mr. Misika was designated Deputy Director for Agricultural Training Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development.

From 1996 to 2005, he served as Under-Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. During that period, he also acted as Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry and as Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of Namibia in Paris, France. From here representing his country to FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

He has also served as Head of the Namibian Delegation to the World Trade Organization Negotiations on Agriculture and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). He joined the United Nations FAO in 2005, and has been serving as FAO Representative in China since 2011.

With the recent recognition of the potato as a staple food, by China's Ministry of Agriculture, it is believed new opportunities for business and challenges for research will emerge in this expanding Chinese industry.
 The 9^th World Potato Congress is held in Yanqing Beijing (China) 28-30 July 2015.