News on Energy and Environment from Africa

Senegal’s MASAE received containers with seed potatoes at Dakar Port for the 2025–2026 campaign, marking progress toward food sovereignty with 20,000+ tons of seeds and 7.3 billion FCFA (EUR 11.13 million) in state support.

Potatoes SA and the Department of Basic Education partner to enhance school nutrition through the National School Nutrition Programme, showing that adding potatoes boosts learners’ energy, focus, and satiety while helping fight childhood malnutrition sustainably.

Global potato markets face a 'Potato Flood' as production outpaces demand, causing price crashes and farmer losses. Rising output from Europe, Asia, Egypt, Turkey, and new exporters China and India fuels oversupply, worsened by U.S. tariffs on EU fries.

Kenya nears release of '3R' Late Blight-resistant potatoes after 20+ years of research by CIP & KALRO. Supported by 2Blades, Feed the Future & Simplot, the varieties promise higher yields, disease protection, and improved food security by 2026.

WPC President Peter VanderZaag praised Potatoes South Africa’s innovation-driven, grower-owned model during the 2025 Innovation Symposium, highlighting its research, transformation efforts, and global relevance ahead of WPC 2026 in Kenya.

Goodrich Cereals launches its new flavored frozen Potato Gourmet Twist range at FI Africa 2025 in Egypt, June 2–4. Visit booth H2.D43 to taste, explore products, and discuss partnership opportunities.

PepsiCo South Africa has expanded its Isando factory with a new state-of-the-art potato chip production line with ZAR 746 million (USD 40 million) investment.

Las exportaciones desde Egipto afectan los mercados Europeos. La temporada 2025 parece no ralentizar la búsqueda del país africano por más y mejores mercados de exportación.

Droughts and flooding have become so common in some of the poorest places on Earth that the land can no longer sustain crops, the director of the World Food Programme’s global office has said.

McCain Foods Limited, one of South Africa’s leading frozen food manufacturers, has officially opened its Farm of the Future Africa in Lichtenburg, North West, the second of three locations planned by 2025.

For the first time, food and agriculture systems have taken center stage in the global climate negotiations. COP27 has advanced the global recognition of food and agriculture as both a climate culprit and solution.

PepsiCo is finalising an investment proposal of approximately USD 40 million (ETB 2 billion) to expand its Senselet snacks business in Ethiopia, and is considering the possibility of further investments in the country.

McCain Foods Limited has unveiled plans for a second Farms of the Future in South Africa, as part of its drive to cut carbon emissions and tackle the impacts of climate change.

The potato industry in South Africa is investing in various technologies to improve its sustainability and is in the process of developing a mobile app to improve communication with members.

Imagine being a potato farmer in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Nigeria. On a small piece of land, which you depend on for food and income, you have spent months planting, weeding, and watering.

The Wageningen Research Foundation (WR), being subsidised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the context of the Policy Support 'Sustainable agricultural development in a food system approach' published a study on the potato value chain in Morocco.

Irish potatoes have prevented another major humanitarian food crisis in one of the poorest and most remote parts of Ethiopia, according to aid organization Concern Worldwide.

To deal with climate pressures, potato growers in Kenya are turning to contract farming to earn more money and get better seed.