The African Potato Association (APA) is a non-profit organization formed in 1983 with a core objective to promote the production and the use of potato and sweet potato in Africa. Currently, most APA members are scientists and practitioners drawn from 20 African countries. Every three years, the APA holds a scientific meeting to review progress in potato and sweet potato research in Africa.
The meeting is also an opportunity for scientists to interact with other stakeholders in the sector through exhibitions, presentations, and panel discussions. The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and the International Potato Center (CIP) have joined hands to host the 13th Triennial APA Conference because of the critical role potato and sweet potato contribute towards Uganda’s food security, nutrition and income generation.
The significant roles of potato (solanum tuberosum) and sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) are rapidly evolving and changing in Africa. Both crops are valued for their contribution towards food security, health, and their potential as drivers for rural economic growth is increasingly being recognized. The production of potato in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has more than doubled over the past 20 years. The crop provides almost twice as much energy as wheat and rice – this makes it very attractive to African farmers who increasingly acknowledge its comparative advantage over other crops.
Potato has become a popular food in urban areas, which means the crop has a high market potential. Sweet potato is equally important due to its high nutrient content and its ability to grow well under low input conditions within a broad range of agri-ecologies. This crop is one of the major food security crops in Africa — the crop that has the potential to fill in the gap when maize harvesting fails.
The African Potato Association (APA) was founded on September 16, 1983 in Lusaka, Zambia by Rabson Chileshe, Zambia, John Njoroge, Kenya and Rakotondramanana, Madagascar. The establishment of the association came out of the realization of lack of platforms amongst potato national research programs across Africa for sharing experiences and learning. APA was then founded to address this gap. A triennial meeting was established to provide a forum for exchanging ideas and learning from each other.
For the last thirty years, the APA built a network amongst research centers in Africa and attracted Agricultural Research Centers outside Africa. From its inception, the APA focused on research for small holder farmer development and agricultural economic growth, with as clear vision that this will bring wealth and health to the African countries. They did not follow the international paradigm of the 1980s that was centered on industrial-led growth. It was only in the beginning of the new millennium that the international community once more acknowledged the role of the small holder-led agricultural development as an engine for economic growth in Africa.