Vita, an Irish NGO, which works with communities
in Africa, set up the Irish Potato Coalition
programme in collaboration with other partners
to tackle poverty and hunger.
Vita recognises a new approach is required that enables development partners to create equitable and sustainable potato value chains if the potential of potatoes as a food crop in Africa is to be realised.
The Coalition is a means of developing, sharing and scaling best practices and models to maximise the potential benefit that potatoes provide to rural communities.
The founding partners of the Potato Centre of Excellence are Vita, Gama Gofa Zonal Administration, the International Potato Centre, Arba Minch University, Teagasc, Wageningen and the Irish Potato Federation.
The pilot programme is based in Gama Gofa in the Southern Region of Ethiopia with the immediate objective of improving livelihoods of 100,000 farmers through effective use of potatoes (new seed, better planting techniques, better use of fertiliser and management of pest and disease).
Vita acts as the driver to coordinate a six country Potato Coalition covering Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Kenya. The Coalition involves Irish and international NGOs together with CIP and various science and business partners. This is a very ambitious venture that will enable rapid knowledge sharing and lessons learned and will develop a common framework to work with for all partners.
For more information, please visit www.vita.ie.
Source: potatobusiness.com