Coast Region now advised to accept investors in agriculture

The Guardian | 9 September 2011
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Rice farmers in Tanzania

Coast Region residents have been advised to accept and work with investors in agriculture so that they could benefit from them in terms of skills and markets.

The challenge was given by Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) executive secretary Dunstan Mrutu at a seminar to educate Mkuranga District officials on matters pertaining to agriculture and investment in the area.

The seminar took place at Mkuranga, Coast Region on Wednesday and was attended by various district council leaders.

“There is a relationship between the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and Kilimo Kwanza, people should not take these as different things. Both aim at achieving the green revolution in Tanzania,” Mrutu said.

In a bid to develop the agriculture sector, he said, TNBC has decided to bring back district agricultural councils and that they will pass in all districts to educate people for more positive outcome in agricultre.

SAGCOT is one of the government’s initiatives and an integral part of ‘Kilimo Kwanza’ which seeks to attain the green revolution in Tanzania.

According to experts, if implemented properly, SAGCOT could feed the East Africa region and become a major agricultural exporter, to rival the likes of Brazil.

SAGCOT is supported by a public-private partnership of global agriculture businesses, international development agencies, farmers’ groups and the government.

It seeks to link the farmers to modern supply chains and make agriculture a profitable activity, in a country where over 75 per cent of the population is engaged in the sector.

“We have the Rufiji Basin in Coast Region and the land here is very fertile which can allow people to get a lot of harvests once they engage themselves in agricultural activities,” he said.

He said there are some investors who have shown interest to invest in Rufiji Basin, urging people to be ready to accept and work with them.

For his part Rufiji Basin Development Authority (RUBADA) director general Aloyce Masanja said that his authority has been given the mandate to oversee the implementation of SAGCOT with a view to attain green revolution.

He urged Mkuranga District residents to be ready with various projects that investors want to be involved in for the benefit of their development.

He said he has already ordered councillors to create youth camps and allocate land for them so that they could engage in agricultural activities.

RUBADA director for Planning and Investment Tabu Ndatulu said that contract farming arrangement would help farmers acquire necessary skills, market, employment and other benefits.
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