“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings,” said Masanobu Fukuoka, the Japanese philosopher and farmer. For Egyptian potato farmers, this could not be any more true . For the past year, PepsiCo Egypt has been working to empower Egyptian farmers by supporting them through training programs aimed at providing them with stronger technical know-how and other skills to improve efficiency and productivity. Launched through the collaborative effort of PepsiCo Egypt and USAID, the “Potato Harvest Program” has been working to empower small farmers across Egypt. Throughout the Program, farmers participated in training workshops and received technical recommendations to enable them to grow higher quality crops and increase their productivity. The Program resulted in an increase of potato harvests, from six tons per feddan last year to 14 tons per feddan in 2020. Additionally, the program led to an increase in this year’s potato harvest by 15 percent, which will increase rural farmers’ incomes. This became possible through the establishment of reliable market linkages, increasing crop quality and yields, and helping farmers to progress towards internationally-recognized standards for sustainable…
PepsiCo Egypt and USAID Initiative Garners Increase in Potato Harvest
February 5, 2020
