1. POTATOES FOR SUSTAINABLE
GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY
André Devaux
International Potato Center (CIP)
2014 EAPR Congress
July 7, 2014

2. Family Ahmed in Egypt
More than a billion people eat
potatoes around the world
* From “Food Around The World” with Peter Menzel’s pictures from the book "Hungry Planet"

3. Family Namgay in Bhutan
The potato is the third most
important food crop in the
world
* From “Food Around The World” with Peter Menzel’s pictures from the book "Hungry Planet"

4. Family Ayme in Perú
The potato is recommended as a food
security crop as the world still faces
steady hunger rates
* From “Food Around The World” with Peter Menzel’s pictures from the book "Hungry Planet"

5. Why do potato-based systems represent an increasingly
important opportunity for the poor in terms of:
• Food security
• Poverty alleviation
• Improved health status?
POTATOES FOR SUSTAINABLE GLOBALFOOD SECURITY

6. Outline
 Hunger, Agriculture and Potato Global Trends
 How is CIP’s current research portfolio reaching the poor?
 CIP strategic plan addressing Food and Nutrition Security
with Potato Science

7.  2 billions people suffer from hidden hunger
• Prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies -
Image from HarvestPlus

8. Agriculture growth is a key factor since
most of the poor depend on agriculture
Economic growth is necessary but not
sufficient to accelerate reduction of hunger
and malnutrition
“If support is given to small-scale farmers, so they become self-
sufficient, we would solve 40% to 60% of the global food
insecurity problem”. From: Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman Farmers'
Forum India in a debate on “Rethinking Global Food Security”
Potato is cultivated in areas of prevalent
poverty and malnutrition in the world (such as
mountain areas)
Agriculture and Potato
growth to reduce
hunger in the world

9. Potato Global trends
Potato Global trends

10. Changes in Global Potato Production
World
Developed
countries
Developing
countries
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2010
Countries
Developed countries
195.22 184.64 168.69 193.59 162.25 182.04 163.58 171.79 155.25 143.88
Developing countries
84.09 93.44 102.38 117.71 131.41 146.51 152.41 157.77 159.12 180.53
World 279.32 278.09 271.07 311.31 300.67 328.55 315.95 329.56 314.37 324.42
Fuente: FAOSTAT
Fuente: FAO 2011
2010

11. Potato consumption in
developing countries is increasing
Source: FAOSTAT

12. Growth in production of
Staple food crops in China
Source: FAOSTAT

13. Source: FAOSTAT
Percent change in crop production
of staple food crops in SSA ( 1994-2011 )

14. Outline
 Hunger, Agriculture and Potato Global Trends
 How is CIP’s current research portfolio reaching the poor?
 CIP strategy addressing Food and Nutrition Security with
Potato Science

15. CIP’s Mission: to work with partners to achieve food security, well-being and gender equity for poor
people in root and tuber farming and food systems in the developing world. We do this through research and
innovation in sciences, technology and capacity strengthening.

16. CIP Headquarters, Peru
Nairobi,
Kenya
Bhutan
Kampala,
Uganda
Addis Abba,
Ethiopia
Quito, Ecuador
Manila,
Philippines
New Delhi, India
Orissa, India
Nagaland, India
Beijing,
China
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Bogor,
Indonesia
Lilongwe,
Malawi
Maputo,
Mozambique
La Paz, Bolivia
International Potato Center (CIP)
Tashkent,
Uzbekistan

17. * Thiele, 2011
Targeting Analysis:
• importance of potato crop
• indicator of livelihoods

18. * Thiele, 2011

19. * Thiele, 2011

20. Theisen et al in preparation
Distribution of potato production and poverty, China

21. PRIORITY
AREAS
FOR
INVESTMENT
IN
POTATO
RESEARCH
AND
INNOVATION
Andean South America
• Bolivia,
• Perú,
• Ecuador,
• Colombia.
The Indo-Gangetic basin
of southern Asia
• Bangladesh,
• India,
• Nepal,
• Pakistan.
China
• Several interior provinces
in southwest to north
production zones.
Higher altitude areas
of Sub-Saharan Africa
• Ethiopia, Cameroon,
• Kenya, Burundi,
• Rwanda, Uganda,
• Tanzania, DRC (Kivu)
Malawi, Angola,
• Nigeria, Mozambique,
• Madagascar.
Central and western
Asia and the Caucasus
• Tajikistan,
• Kyrgyzstan.
• Armenia,
• Azerbaijan.

22. Ecosystem/ Sector Constraints
• Small Farms
• Hillside Agriculture
• Dispersed production

23. Production Constraints
• Multiple, overlapping
seasons
• High pest and disease
pressure

24. Institutional Constraints
• Limited infrastructure
• Limited quality inputs
• Disorganized sector

25. Pro-poor technologies: save costs, by reducing use of
inputs, which favors adoption by poor farmers:
• Late blight and virus resistance, earliness
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM),
• Better adapted seed systems
• Biofortification
CIP’s
RESEARCH
PORTAFOLIO
Potato as staple: improve
livelihoods and food security
of poor farmers
(Agriculture based countries)
Potato has a dual role
for producers:
Potato as a high value crop:
Pathway out of poverty
(Urbanized & Transforming
countries)
Access dynamic markets: Better competitiveness
• Sustainable Agriculture Intensification
• Public-private partnership

26. Outline
 Hunger, Agriculture and Potato Global Trends
 How is CIP’s current research portfolio reaching the poor?
 CIP strategy addressing Food and Nutrition Security with
Potato Science

27. CIP NEW STRATEGIC PLAN
Maximize the contribution of potato and sweet potato science to
enhance CIP’s tangible impact on food and nutrition security in
identified target regions.
Six strategic objectives (SO):
• 1 on Sweetpotato (production, nutrition and health)
• 5 on Potato

28. Potato strategic objective 2:
Focused in Asia through the intensification of local
cereal-based systems with the early-maturing agile potato
Potato
1st Transplanted boro rice
Boro nursery
2nd Transplanting after potato
harvest
Challenge:
• To fit into existing
windows (70-80 days)
left fallows in different
cereal based systems
• Development and use
of heat tolerant early
“agile” potato varieties More information: Mohinder Kadian, presentation 15

29. Potato strategic objective 3:
Improving livelihoods of potato farmers in Africa by tackling
deteriorated seed quality through an integrated approach.
 Rapid multiplication technologies
aeroponics or sand hydroponics
 Decentralized seed production
by promotion of quality declared
seed systems
 On-farm seed maintenance through
positive selection, small seed‐plot
technique, improved storage
 Involvement of private sector and
creating entrepreneurial opportunities
for young and female farmer
Monica Parker, Paper 14 and 111

30. Potato strategic objective 4:
Evolving discoveries in genetics, molecular biology,
genomics and cellular biology.
Disease-free potato
Current main biotic threats causing
yield gap:
• Late blight
• Bacterial wilt
• Viruses (PVY, PVX, PLRV)
Ecosystem-Flexible Potato to allow
potato cultivation to be extended
to the lowland tropics and temperate regions
• Adding on early bulking
• Tolerance to heat and drought
• Modulating the short-day
dependence of tuberization
Marc Ghislain (26), Ph. Monneveux KNL 6 and David Ramirez (59)

31. Potato strategic objective 5:
Addressing vulnerability to food insecurity
through roots and tubers in the Andes and Asia
• Analyzing how physical,
environmental, economic,
social and health risks affect
food systems
• Develop framework for food
vulnerability analysis
• Design resilience intervention
models
Pilot analysis in the Andes and in Asia based on experiences with innovation in food and nutritional security
Food insecurity and climate change
Thomas Zumfelde, presentation 39, Dieudonné Harahagazwe (17)

32. Andes, biodiversity as entry point
• Nutrition
• Income
• Adaptation
to climate
shocks
5000 native potato
varieties cultivated
in the Andes

33. Accs Countries
Potato 158 10,343 21 32,569 80
Sweetpotato 68 8,149 59 18,128 62
ARTC 46 2,546 13 3,447 22
Total 272 21,038 62** 54,144 97**
Distributed (2003-
2013)
** Unique countries
Countries
represented
AccessionsSpecies
A vision of conservation on a global scale by the creation of a World Potato and
Sweetpotato Collection linking all potato and sweetpotato genebanks and in situ
conservation efforts
Potato strategic objective 6:
The CIP Genebank: Preserving the Global Diversity
of Potato, Sweetpotato & ARTCs

34. Conclusions
1. Potato significant vehicle for
targeting global poverty and
malnutrition
2. Potato dual role in Food Security
strategy:
- Staple food grown and consumed by
poor people
- Sold in high value market
3. Future prospects:
- Biofortification
- More efficient seed systems
- New market demands (urbanization)
- Building resilient food systems (climate
change)
- Drought-tolerance
- Disease-free potato
4 . Need to move towards a more integrative science and development
approaches (convergence),
5 . Need of new partnership with civil and private sectors including strong
national and international collaboration.

35. a.devaux@cgiar.org
Thank you!
Open discussion on
collaboration EAPR-CIP
Thursday 10, 18:15
Creativity/Exploration room