Partnerships to Strengthening the Potato Value Chain
At the African Potato Association conference in Addis Ababa in 2016, workshops were held to discuss how the WPC could help strengthen the Potato value chain in East Africa. After the sessions, it was clear that partnerships between enterprises or entities that saw their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to help those who seek some sort of assistance to improve their own lives or those of their communities through the potato value chain being improved. In some contexts, it is also seen as a way to alleviate poverty. This is particularly true in the remote mountain regions of the tropical world, where the poorest people live today.
The 6 sides of the tool box are:
- Collaboration between local individuals or groups with partners who want to carry out their CSR.
- Provision of quality planting material.
- Farm management and crop production technologies.
- Sustainable production and storage of potatoes.
- Marketing.
- Creating added value through packaging and processing.
These 6 components may be met in part or in the whole by the partnerships that are formulated. There is no one specific way that this is done. Each country and community has different needs. Each partner may come with a different skill set or interest and may only be able to meet 1 or 2 of the Tool Box sides. This would already be a very significant contribution to the betterment of the individual or community that is targeted.
Following are examples of different types of partnerships that benefit different types of communities or individuals in parts of or all of the potato value chain!
