Etiopía
En los países africanos, Etiopía tiene posiblemente el mayor potencial para la producción de papa: el 70 por ciento de su tierra cultivable -principalmente en las zonas altas por encima de los 1.500 m- se considera que es adecuada para el cultivo de la patata. Dado que las tierras altas también albergan a casi el 90 por ciento de la población de Etiopía, la patata podría desempeñar un papel clave para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria nacional.
En la actualidad, la patata sigue siendo ampliamente considerada como un cultivo secundario, y el consumo anual per cápita se estima en sólo 5 kg. Sin embargo, el cultivo de la patata está en constante expansión: la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) estima que la producción ha aumentado de 280 000 toneladas en 1993 a unas 525 000 toneladas en 2007.
Frequently Asked Questions
Potatoes in Ethiopia are grown in four main highland areas: the Central, Eastern, Northwestern and Southern highlands, mostly above 1,500 metres. Oromia and Amhara are the leading potato-producing regions, and Ethiopia is one of Africa's largest potato producers.
Ethiopia grows potatoes in three seasons: the main rainy meher season, the shorter belg rainy season, and the dry season under irrigation. This lets Ethiopian farmers produce potatoes across different parts of the year and in different regions of the highlands.
In Ethiopia, the potato is locally known as denech. FAO sources credit a German immigrant with introducing it around 1858, after which denech spread gradually among highland farmers as an extra food source alongside traditional cereals.
Potato produces high yields in a short growing period, so Ethiopian smallholders grow it as both a food and a cash crop. It also acts as insurance when cereal harvests fail, which has made potato increasingly important for household food security.
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This content was last updated on Agosto 17, 2026
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