Viktor Kovalev Heads to the World Potato Congress in Kenya: Send Your Questions to the Delegates

The founder of POTATOES NEWS and the International Potato Tour will interview delegates at the congress and share live updates in our WhatsApp community.

From 26 to 30 October, the 13th World Potato Congress (WPC 2026) takes place in Naivasha, Kenya — the first time the congress is hosted by a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Growers, breeders, processors, researchers, equipment suppliers and policymakers from around the world will gather to discuss the future of the potato sector.

The International Potato Tour will be in Kenya from 24 to 30 October, from arrival in Nairobi through to the post-congress technical tours. The tour’s founder, Viktor Kovalev — creator of POTATOES NEWS and host of the POTATO 2.0 podcast — will record interviews with delegates: farmers, experts, company leaders and organisers.

What’s on the congress agenda

The main theme of WPC 2026 is the global potato partnership for resilient food systems, nutrition security and trade. The programme includes:

• 26 October — thematic workshops of the international working groups;
• 27–28 October — the main programme: plenary presentations, panel discussions and a field day showcasing technologies, crop inputs and variety trials;
• 29–30 October — technical tours to processing plants, farms and research centres. The International Potato Tour will join them to show how Kenya’s potato sector works from the inside.

Our partners in Kenya

The International Potato Tour’s Kenyan partner is Wakulima Help Desk, a platform that brings local farmers together, helps them adopt climate-resilient practices and connects them to transparent markets. Together we will show how the potato industry of East Africa lives and grows.

We will also interview United Fertilizers, Uralchem‘s representative in Africa, about the company, its production and its experience at the WPC 2026 demonstration site — including which potato nutrition solutions have proved themselves in Kenyan conditions.

Your question could be asked at the congress

We invite potato growers, agronomists, processors and everyone working in the industry to join our WhatsApp community. There you can:

• Ask a question to congress delegates and experts — Viktor will try to put it to them in person;
• Get live updates from the venue: short news, photos and videos throughout the day;
• Be the first to know who we are interviewing and what the conversations are about.

Full interviews and analysis from the congress will be published on POTATOES NEWS and in the POTATO 2.0 podcast.

👉 Join the community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JwQg9UnehXsJGUKHT4OPxR

See you in Kenya!