Naivasha, 26–30 Oktober: mengapa perniagaan kentang harus terbang ke Kenya

13th World Potato Congress is not just another conference. It is the one venue where, once every two years, breeding, processing, machinery, science and public policy for the entire industry meet in a single place. In 2026 that place is Kenya. Here is the programme broken down by names, topics and numbers — so you can make a decision rather than take someone’s word for it.

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The short version: what happens and when

Apa: 13th World Potato Congress (WPC 2026) Di mana: Naivasha, Kenya. Technical tours and the Farmers Field Day — Mau Narok, Rift Valley Bila: 26–30 Oktober 2026 Tema: “Global Potato Partnership for Enhanced Food Systems, Nutrition Security and Trade” Scale, as stated by the organisers: over 1,000 delegates from 60+ countries and more than 1,500 Kenyan farmers Penganjur: World Potato Congress Inc., the WPC 2026 local organising committee, NPCK and FreshCrop with KALRO; professional conference organiser — Keynote PCO, the same team behind Dublin 2022

The week is built like this:

Tarikh	Apa yang berlaku
Isnin 26 Oktober	Six thematic workshops, opening ceremony, welcome reception
Selasa 27 Oktober	Plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, exhibition; accompanying persons’ programme
Rabu 28 Oktober	Plenaries and sessions, Congress gala dinner
Khamis 29 Oktober	Farmers Field Day (FreshCrop, Mau Narok) and one-day technical tours
Jumaat 30 Oktober	Overnight Rift Valley tours, finishing at Nairobi airport

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Reason one: a plenary line-up that assembles nowhere else

The WPC plenary programme is not a parade of welcome speeches. It is a top-down cross-section of the industry: markets, science, marketing, soil, policy.

• Dr Simon Heck, Director General of the International Potato Center (CIP) — “Potato for the World”. The head of the planet’s leading potato research organisation.
• Dr Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the FAO — on native varieties, biodiversity and how tradition converts into market opportunity. An FAO chief economist on a potato stage is a rarity.
• Cedric Porter, editor and owner of Pasaran Kentang Dunia — “The Changing World of Potato Trade and Production”. For anyone in export, import or pricing, this is the key talk of the week.
• Jamey Higham, President and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission — branding and marketing. Idaho built the most recognisable potato brand in the world; this is the session that explains how.
• Dr Chad Hutchinson, Global Director of Potato Market Research and Support at TriCal Group — soil health and how to manage it.
• Prof. Hamadi Boga, Vice President of Programs Delivery at AGRA — AGRA’s role in food security across the potato value chain.
• Dr Nigel Crump, General Manager and Chief Plant Pathologist of AuSPICA, Australia’s seed potato certification authority — international partnerships in potato research.
• Dr Peter VanderZaag, President of World Potato Inc. — how the new WPC planning committee is driving change through partnership.

Reason two: the concurrent sessions cover the whole chain

This is the most underrated part of the congress. The announced line-up runs from the gene to the store.

Breeding and seed systems. Ad Vrolijk (HZPC Research, Netherlands) on rapid progress through hybrid breeding. Ingo Hein (James Hutton Institute, UK) on big data, pangenomes and AI to accelerate genetic improvement. Dr Amanpreet Kaur (joint CIP–Hutton position) on diploid breeding for mapping and cloning new late blight resistance genes. Dr Hannele Lindqvist-Kreuze (CIP, Lima) on biofortified potato for human health. André Lachance (Maxi-Plant, Quebec) on aeroponic seed potato production.

Crop protection and nematodes. A dense block on potato cyst nematode (PCN): Dr Danny Coyne (NEMAFRICA / IITA) and Dr Solveig Haukeland (ICIPE) on the Kenyan picture; Prof. Louise-Marie Dandurand (University of Idaho) on invasive PCN in the United States; Dr James Price (James Hutton) on turning research into policy; Dr Aska Goverse (Wageningen) on the NEM-EMERGE project. Maxime Bonnave (CARAH, Belgium) on transferring late blight decision support systems into low-resource settings, with results from Bangladesh, Rwanda and Guinea.

Penyimpanan. Josh Brood (Techmark, Inc.) on potato storage in temperate climates. Yogesh Dahiya (Natural Storage Solutions, India) and Medhanie Mehari Arefe (NARI, Eritrea) on solutions for markets where the cold chain is expensive or absent.

Mesin. Franz-Bernd Kruthaup, Managing Director of GRIMME Holding and Director of SHAKTIMAN-GRIMME, on raising potato yield and quality on smallholder farms with the SHAKTIMAN-GRIMME cultivation system. The German–Indian joint venture case is relevant to any market with fragmented land holdings.

Memproses. Jochem Rovers (Agro-International, Agristo) on sustainability adapted to local conditions. Soundararadjane S. (Hyfarm, HyFun Group, India) on “The India Potato Story”. Allen Wang (SnowValley Food Hebei) on the growth of processing in East Asia and China’s role in a value-added future. Humphrey Mburu (founder of Sereni Fries, Kenya) on building processing in a young market.

Agronomy, water, soil. Prof. Martin Steyn (University of Pretoria) on optimising water and nutrient management on sandy soils. Dr Abdulelah Al-Faraj (Ashargia Development Company) on water management in Saudi Arabia. Dr Niraj Sharma (CIP India) on zero tillage and rice straw mulching in cereal agro-ecosystems.

Industry and institutions. Willie Jacobs and Dr Ansa van Vuuren (Potatoes South Africa) on the national grower support strategy and a fully formalised seed system. Dr Patrick K. Ketiem (Director General, KALRO) and Dr Moses Nyongesa (KALRO) on aligning the regional seed potato strategy 2022–2032 with Kenya’s legislative framework. Dr Joyce Maru on CIP’s role in supporting collaboration across Africa.

People and enterprise. Amanda Davidson (WD Potato Limited), Dr Pooja Pandey (Haryana, India) and Christella Uwase (Bountiful Farmers, Rwanda) on women’s entrepreneurship and young agribusinesses in seed production. And, separately, Emmanuel Busera (AAISS) on why knowledge transfer protocols between multinational corporations and farmers fail in the Great Rift Valley. That is an unusually candid subject for an industry conference.

Reason three: six thematic workshops on 26 October

Workshops are booked separately during registration and cost between €25 and €85. They are not an add-on: they are working groups that will continue online after the congress.

№	Topic	Masa	Harga	Kerusi
01	International Potato Marketing Group	08: 30-11: 30	€85	Greg Donald (PEI Potato Board), Blair Richardson (Potatoes USA), Georgia Thomas
02	Keratan Apikal Berakar (RAC)	09:00–11:30 + lunchtime field visit	€25	Monica Parker, Dinah J. Borus (NPCK), Derek Roulston (API), Julio Kalazich (ALAP)
03	Benih Kentang Sejati Hibrid (HTPS)	09: 00-12: 00	€50	Jianmin Xie (CIP-China), Thiago Mendes (CIP-Kenya), Peter VanderZaag
04	International Potato Research Collaborative Framework (IPRCF)	12: 30-15: 00	€85	Nigel Crump, Silke Steinmöller (JKI, Germany), Alison Lees (James Hutton)
05	Senamrobik	14: 00-16: 30	€30	André Lachance, Santosh Tiwari (PepsiCo), Peter VanderZaag
06	Global Potato Sustainability (GPS)	15: 00-17: 30	€85	Chad Hutchinson (TriCal), John Mesko (Potato Sustainability Alliance)

The practical point: €85 puts you in a room with the heads of Potatoes USA, the Potato Sustainability Alliance, CIP and the James Hutton Institute — and they hear you. That kind of access cannot be bought in a plenary hall at any price.

Editorial check: the organiser’s description of Workshop 04 refers to “Monday, 25 October 2026”, while the schedule places all workshops on Monday 26 October. The IPRCF date is worth confirming with the secretariat before booking.

Reason four: the Farmers Field Day — 29 October, FreshCrop, Mau Narok

This is what European trade shows do not have. More than 30 demonstration plots, planted from 31 July and managed by FreshCrop’s agronomy team through the whole season — varieties, nutrition programmes, crop protection strategies and machinery in a live field rather than an exhibition hall. Plus over 1,500 Kenyan farmers, mechanisation from land preparation through planting to harvesting and grading, and a main stage with short practical talks from the leaders of Kenya’s potato sector.

For media and suppliers this is the best filming and negotiating day of the week: the machinery is running, the field is alive, decisions get made on the spot. The organisers keep a field diary with weekly updates published since early August.

Reason five: eight technical tour routes

Tours run on 29 and 30 October, departing from Sawela Lodges. The coaches do not return to Naivasha — your luggage travels with you and the tours finish at Nairobi airport. You can choose one option only.

• Tour 1 — Farmers Field Day (€55.50), arriving at the airport around 17:30
• Tours 2A / 2B / 2C — crisp processors Urban Bites and Krackles, and the Hanna Rose biotechnology laboratory
• Tour 2 with overnight — processing plus Nairobi National Park
• Tours 3A / 3B / 3C / 3D — overnight in the Rift Valley: the Sereni french fry factory, the Stockman Rozen operation, the Sustainable Agriculture Foundation, and a fresh crisp processing and mini-tuber production site at a vertically integrated potato value-adding company; all combined with Nakuru National Park

Getting onto Kenyan processing sites under normal circumstances is close to impossible. Here it is included in the ticket.

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The practicalities: what it costs and what you need to do

Registration fees (standard rate from 7 July 2026):

kategori	Harga
Perwakilan Penuh	€785
Developing Countries (FAO LIFDC list)	€595
Pelajar	€450
Menemani seseorang	€400

Early bird registration has closed. The fee covers all plenary and concurrent sessions, the exhibition, delegate materials, lunches and refreshment breaks, the welcome reception on 26 October and a ticket to the gala dinner on 28 October. Workshops, tours and accommodation are extra.

What is critical to factor in:

• Pembatalan. After 31 August 2026 there is no refund on registration at all. Registering now means non-refundable money — the decision has to be final.
• ETA. Kenya operates an Electronic Travel Authorisation. The organisers warn explicitly that processing can take 3–4 working days or longer, and that late applications risk travel disruption. Portal: etakenya.go.ke.
• Visa letters are issued only after registration is paid in full and must be requested on the online registration form.
• Penerbangan. Kenya Airways is the official airline partner, offering up to 12% off bookings in the 19 October – 6 November window with code WPC26KE. Nairobi is also served by Emirates, Qatar, Turkish, Ethiopian, KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways.
• Pemindahan. Official congress coaches depart from the Mövenpick Nairobi and the Argyle Grand Nairobi Airport on Sunday 25 October (12:00 and 16:00) and Monday 26 October (10:00 and 16:00).
• Pembayaran — Visa/Mastercard with no administration fee, bank transfer with a €25 fee, and M-PESA GlobalPay.
• Beware of intermediaries. The organisers have issued a formal warning about unauthorised agencies posing as WPC 2026 agents. Keynote PCO is the only official operator and wpc2026kenya.com the only official source of information.

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Who should definitely go, and who can skip it

Go if you are: an exporter or importer who needs direct access to the East African market and its processors; a seed company looking for new geography; a machinery or crop protection manufacturer for whom small and medium farms are a growth segment; a processor assessing Africa as a market for equipment or finished product; a researcher working on nematodes, late blight, hybrid breeding or aeroponics; an industry association building international links.

You can skip it if your interest stops at your domestic market and the travel budget is comparable to a production problem waiting to be solved in October. WPC is an investment in relationships and horizon, not a source of immediate revenue. The return is measured over two to three years.

Apa yang perlu dilakukan sekarang

1. Check the ETA and confirm your passport is valid — this is the first thing that runs into a deadline.
2. Decide the format: full delegate or accompanying person, one workshop and one tour.
3. Book accommodation in Naivasha and connecting nights in Nairobi — the room stock by the lake is limited.
4. Take the Kenya Airways code before the booking window closes.
5. Remember: no refunds after 31 August. Treat the budget as non-refundable and decide once.

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Sumber: the official congress website — program, plenary speakers and concurrent sessions, thematic workshops, Farmers Field Day, lawatan teknikal, pendaftaran. The programme is current as of 14 August 2026 and subject to change; confirm fees, deadlines and the exact spelling of speaker names with the secretariat before publication: registration@wpc2026kenya.com