Dutch Government Supports New Potato Center in Tanzania

A new potato center will be co-financed by the Dutch ministry of Economic affairs (USD4m) and a group of nine companies that are active in the potato industry to help the Tanzanian farmers to improve their yields.

The Dutch government and a group of companies active in the potato industry are set to build a Center for the development of the Potato Industry in the southern Tanzanian town of Mbeya. Senior Government officials signed a manifesto to begin the project during the Tanzania Agribusiness Event in The Hague on May 31st.

The Netherlands is the world leader in the potato sector, with Dutch seed potatoes accounting for 60% of worldwide potato production. While over 500 different varieties of potato are grown in The Netherlands, in Tanzania only four varieties are used and Tanzanian farmers often harvest no more that 7- 8 tons per hectare, well below the 30 tons that could be reached with high-quality seed-potatoes and improved farming techniques.

“This Center can have a great impact on research and training. With this great initiative, the potato business can finally take off,” says Mathew Mtigumwe, Permanent Secretary at the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture. Some of them are seed-potato growers while others supply cool stores or crop protection. “This is an example of the new Dutch approach: business development instead of aid,” said Frank Wijnands of Wageningen University & Research. Mr. Wijnands has, together with Ingrid Korving of the ministry of Economic Affairs, been instrumental in the creation of the Potato Center.

The construction of the physical Center in the southern town of Mbeya has been planned for later this year. The activities, however, will start after summer, according to Wijnands, who is also the project manager of the center. “We are going to support every phase of the potato value chain from production and storage to processing to marketing. Producing more potatoes will bring a lot of extra money into the rural economy.”

Mathew Mtigumwe of the Ministry of Agriculture in Tanzania is also eying a quick process. When asked what changes he expects to see over the next five years, he answered: “Five years? In fact, we hope that within one year things will change. In southern Tanzania there is very little commercial potato growth, but it will soon rise.”