The global potato sector is marking the passing of Dr Hubert Zandstra, former Director General of the International Potato Center from 1991 to 2005. During his tenure, CIP expanded its scope from potato research to include sweetpotato, Andean roots and tubers, and natural resource management in mountain regions. His leadership strengthened scientific capacity, expanded partnerships, and maintained a focus on smallholder farming systems.
Before joining CIP, Dr Zandstra worked with Canada's International Development Research Centre in Colombia's Cáqueza region, studying constraints in small farm production. He later contributed to cropping systems research at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. By the time he joined CIP, he was known for an approach centred on on-farm realities.
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At CIP, he supported a broader research agenda linking potatoes, sweetpotatoes, agrobiodiversity, and nutrition. He advanced natural resource management work in fragile mountain systems and emphasised connecting breeding, germplasm, pest management, and farming systems to national research programmes. His tenure includes the establishment of the Hubert Zandstra Biodiversity Complex in Lima, now central to CIP's genebank and cryopreservation work. In a 1991 review, he noted, "Our strategy has been to help national systems expand production and make it sustainable."
His period at CIP coincided with instability in Peru, yet global programmes continued to operate and the genebank remained secure. He received recognitions such as Peru's Great Cross for Distinguished Service and honorary degrees in Colombia and Peru.
The author of the original text recalls early interactions with Dr Zandstra, beginning with an email exchange in 1996 related to a small online initiative called Global Potato News. Dr Zandstra responded with encouragement. A later meeting in Washington, D.C. is described as a discussion focused on sector challenges, research roles, and connections between experimental work and farm-level realities.
His influence is reflected today in how CIP and partners present potatoes and sweetpotatoes in relation to climate, nutrition, and agrobiodiversity; in the continued emphasis on national research partnerships; and in the focus on smallholder constraints in regions across the Andes, Africa, and Asia.
Source: Potato News Today
