Abstract
Potato is a staple crop that contributes to food security and poverty alleviation in developing nations. Despite this, yields in developing nations are often unsustainably low, due to various biotic and abiotic factors that negatively affect production. Some of the most important biotic constraints are pathogens, many of which are disseminated by seed tubers. The lack of functional or formal seed certification systems in many southern African countries results in a continual increase in pathogen pressure. Short rotation cycles, poor plant nutrition and inefficient control measures exacerbate the crop production challenges faced by resource poor growers. In this review, we discuss five of the most important diseases on potatoes in southern Africa, namely late blight, bacterial wilt, soft rot / blackleg, powdery scab and zebra chip. Management options for small-scale growers are provided.
 Significance:
 
 Potato production in southern Africa is threatened by tuber-borne pathogens.
 Establishment and implementation of seed certification systems in southern African countries will increase potato yields and subsequently contribute to food security.
 Late blight, bacterial wilt, soft rot / blackleg and powdery scab are important emerging diseases on potatoes in southern Africa.
 Improved understanding of the biology of pathogens and the epidemiology of diseases will contributeto the management thereof.
Highlights
Potato is regarded as one of the most important crops in addressing the challenge of food security, among smallholder farmers.[1,2] Potato production has drastically increased since the 1960s in the developing world, in comparison to that in the developed world.[3]
The primary reasons for the occurrence of emerging infectious diseases in potatoes and other crops are related to increased trade and travel, intensified and expanded land use, changes in agricultural practices, planting of new varieties, and extreme weather events linked to climate change.[4,5,6,7]
Using the classification proposed by Secor and Rivera-Varas[5], important diseases on potatoes in the last decade (2010–2020) in southern Africa include late blight, bacterial wilt, soft rot and blackleg, and powdery scab
Summary
Potato is regarded as one of the most important crops in addressing the challenge of food security, among smallholder farmers.[1,2] Potato production has drastically increased since the 1960s in the developing world, in comparison to that in the developed world.[3]. Pest and pathogen control is difficult for subsistence potato growers in southern Africa – a region fraught with challenges, not least of which is the need to increase agricultural productivity in the face of climate change and a rapidly growing population. Secor and Rivera-Varas[5] classified important potato diseases as caused by emerging, changing or surviving pathogens. The primary reasons for the occurrence of emerging infectious diseases in potatoes and other crops are related to increased trade and travel, intensified and expanded land use, changes in agricultural practices, planting of new varieties, and extreme weather events linked to climate change.[4,5,6,7]. Using the classification proposed by Secor and Rivera-Varas[5], important diseases on potatoes in the last decade (2010–2020) in southern Africa include late blight, bacterial wilt, soft rot and blackleg, and powdery scab. We investigate the drivers behind the increase in these diseases, mitigation measures and routes to prevent additional emerging infectious diseases from appearing in the southern African potato industry
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