IFDC Empowers Women in Potato-Related Enterprises in Kigezi Fidelis Karugaba checks seedlings in her newly constructed Irish potato seed screen house.
The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), through its Resilient and Efficient Agribusiness Chains (REACH) project in Uganda, has worked to create potato value chains that benefit all actors, from farmers to processors and consumers. The project has trained 11,312 potato farmers from 885 farmer groups, with a special focus on women, in good agronomic practices and farming as a business. Additionally, 30% of the farmer groups that have been introduced to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are now selling produce to MSMEs in western Uganda.
Country Life
Trending: Kestrel potatoes are one of the best British potato varieties to grow yourself. Credit: Terry Brooks / Getty
Mark Diacono runs through his go-to list of British potato varieties to grow and explains how to help them avoid the dreaded potato blight.
For a few years now, most of the potatoes I’ve grown have been nutty, early, French salad potatoes. I love them, but, delightful as this Continental affair has been, it has rather clouded my memory about the pleasure of potatoes from these islands. This year, my hand may be forced: the twin delights of Brexit and Covid-19 mean that no one knows if, when, or for how much they might be able to import and sell varieties from the EU. Like it or not, it may be only British varieties this year. And I like it.