• Burkina Faso has launched a $6.3 million potato processing plant in Ouahigouya.
• The facility will produce 350 tons of chips and frozen fries annually and include a 5,000-ton cold storage unit.
• The project aims to reduce reliance on imported frozen potatoes as local production stagnates.

Burkina Faso has begun construction of a new potato processing facility in Ouahigouya, in the Yaadga region, as part of efforts to strengthen domestic agro-industrial capacity and curb rising imports of processed potato products.

On February 27, the Ministry of Industry officially launched work on the plant, which will be built on a three-hectare site and operated by the Société de Commercialisation et de Transformation de Produits Agricoles (SOCOTRA SA).

According to a statement published by the ministry, the facility will focus primarily on processing potatoes. Local media report that the project represents an investment of CFA3.5 billion ($6.3 million) and was initiated by the Burkina Faso Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI-BF).

Once operational, the plant is expected to produce 350 tons per year of chips and frozen French fries.

The project also includes the construction of a cold storage unit with an initial capacity to store and preserve 5,000 tons of raw products annually. In a second development phase, that capacity could be expanded to 10,000 tons per year. Construction is expected to take about eight months.

Authorities say the investment will create new market outlets for farmers and help stimulate domestic production. “With the construction of this cold storage facility — which will be the largest in the country — we will have infrastructure that will significantly boost the potato sector and give producers real market opportunities, since industrial processing will now be part of the value chain,” Industry Minister Serge Gnaniodem Poda said.

The project comes at a critical time. Domestic potato production has remained largely stagnant in recent years, even as demand continues to grow, increasing the country’s dependence on imports of both fresh and processed potatoes.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Burkina Faso produced an average of 33,285 tons of potatoes per year between 2020 and 2024, never exceeding 35,000 tons during that period.

Meanwhile, imports of frozen potatoes have surged sharply, rising from 37 tons in 2020 to 1,225 tons in 2024, with a peak of 2,513 tons recorded in 2023.

Imports of fresh potatoes declined by 30% over the same period, falling from 15,162 tons in 2020 to 10,686 tons in 2024. However, they continue to weigh on the country’s food import bill.

Stéphanas Assocle