Zambia

Zambia has three major potato growing seasons:

• The single rainfed, or summer, crop is generally planted in November when the mean maximum temperature is 30° C and the mean minimum is 17° C. The possibility of seed damage due to high temperatures if the seed is planted dry necessitates planting after the rains have started.
• The first irrigated crop is planted in February or March when the mean maximum temperature is 27° C and the mean minimum is 16° C. In many areas, this crop suffers risk of frost damage near harvest time in June when the mean minimum is around 8° C.
• A second irrigated crop is planted in July.

Generally, harvest is three or four months after planting depending on the variety, local conditions, and farmers' circumstances.

In 2013, 31.000 ton of potatoes was produced in Zambia on 1200 ha (FAOSTAT).

In recent years potato production in Zambia has increased significantly: in the last 10 years production more than doubled. Still, Zambia is not in the top 100 producing countries worldwide and potato consumption is very low.