The Potato Industry in Africa

Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
British Indian Ocean Territory
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo
Cote d'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe

World

Adjacent Regions

The Potato Sector

Potato arrived late in Africa, around the turn of the 20th century. In recent decades, production has been in continual expansion, rising from 2 million tonnes in 1960 to over 30 million tonnes in 2013.

Potatoes are grown under a wide range of conditions - from irrigated commercial farms in Egypt and South Africa to intensively cultivated tropical highland zones of Eastern and Central Africa, where it is mainly a small farmer's crop.

In some African countries the production of potatoes is growing very rapidly. Algeria more than doubled its potato production in 5 years, and seems to have overtaken Egypt as the #1 producer in Africa in 2013 - at least based on the preliminary FAO estimate for Egypt. Rwanda also almost doubled its potato production in the last 5 years and now ranks in the top 5 potato producing countries of Africa

Top Potato Producing Countries in Africa

Year: 2013.Source: FAOSTAT, 2015

Rank	Country	Potato Production [tonnes]
1	Algeria	4,928,028
2	Egypt	4,800,000 (estimate)
3	Malawi	4,535,955
4	South Africa	2,252,000 (estimate)
5	Rwanda	2,240,715
6	Kenya	2,192,885

Consumption Statistics

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Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2011:	18.76	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2010:	19.30	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2009:	17.97	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2008:	18.05	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2007:	16.18	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2006:	16.80	kg/capita/year	Calculated data
Potatoes (Fresh and Processed), Consumption (Crop Equivalent) in 2005:	17.52	kg/capita/year	Calculated data

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Agricultural Statistics

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Potato Production in 2013:	30,498,600.00	tonnes	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data
Potato Seed in 2013:	2,310,590.00	tonnes	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data
Potato Area Harvested in 2013:	2,045,990.00	Ha	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data
Potato Yield in 2013:	149,065.00	Hg/Ha	Calculated data
Potato Production in 2012:	29,254,500.00	tonnes	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data
Potato Seed in 2012:	2,310,340.00	tonnes	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data
Potato Area Harvested in 2012:	1,958,100.00	Ha	Aggregate, may include official, semi-official, estimated or calculated data