Potato Growing
You have to make it clear what you want when asking for “potatoes” in a restaurant in Africa.
Sweet Potatoes are a tropical root vegetable, not really like ordinary potatoes(although very nice).
What Europeans call “potatoes” are called “Irish Potatoes” in Africa. This is thought to be because an Irish Missionary introduced them.
One great advantage of Irish Potatoes is that they can be stored for very much longer than the Sweet Potatoes. This means that they can be eaten when other food is scarce. It also means that the small co-operative assosiations can keep their crops until prices are higher.
Kabale District has good land and a good climate for growing Irish Potatoes.
AICM helps with the supply of seed potatoes, cultivating equipment and with advice on storage.
In June 2008 3 sprayer pumps were presented to womens groups to boost the Irish potato growing.
These have been added to the 6 sprayer pumps already handed over to the community
in the previous donations from the Friendsof AICM under the alternative giving project.
To support this work or to find out more go to the Alternative Gifts page.