Strengthening potato value chains

This publication is based on the proceedings of the workshop "Strengthening Potato Value Chains in Developing Countries" held in November 2008, in Rome, Italy, and hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC). The workshop was held within the context of the International Year of the Potato (IYP), which was facilitated by the FAO Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP), in partnership with the Intern ational Potato Center (CIP). The workshop was designed to review the current state of potato value chains in developing countries and identify the key constraints to a better functioning value chain, especially the role of the seed sector in providing the chain with a consistent quality product. It also provided a forum for discussing opportunities to re-engineer value chains to enhance food security and rural development, to counter cereal price infl ation and to identify how development agencies, national authorities and the private sector can support value chain activities. The valuable contributions made at this forum by many individual participants are very much acknowledged. Their inputs and discussions were fundamental in developing a series of technical and policy options that will now help lay the foundation for sustainable potato-based systems and value chains.