Clinton's seed initiative, a shot in the arm for Tanzania

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Clinton and daughter visiting Tanzanian government officials yesterday
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam) | 7 August 2013

Tanzania: Clinton's Seed Initiative, a Shot in the Arm for Tanzania

THE State announced early this week that it has drawn a comprehensive plan that will see production of maize seeds and other cereals doubling from the current 30,000 tonnes per farming season to more than 60,000 tonnes in 2015.

This is wonderful news, to say the least. This noble undertaking, the government says, will get hefty support from the Clinton Development Initiative (CDI) which has promised, hand on heart, that it will help Tanzania improve its farmers' lot.

A contract to this effect was signed recently by former US President Bill Clinton and his host, President Jakaya Kikwete during the American dignitary's two-day visit to Tanzania at the weekend. The CDI has a glowing track record in Africa.

Smallholder farmers and the "wananchi" in general, should bank their hope on the CDI initiative. It is the smallholder farmers in this country who prop up the nation's economy and feed more than 80 per cent of its population.

It is imperative, therefore, that these important people be given adequate material, training and moral support. It would be remiss on our part, however, not to mention that some farmers get a raw deal when their tracts of farmland are passed to investors. Some get too little or no compensation at all.

We do not expect the CDI to hurt any farmers but it is worthwhile to point out here that some greedy investors have already knocked small-scale farmers off their feet by grabbing their land and banking it. In fact, land grabbing is an abominable felony.

Many kind-hearted activists around the world have raised concerns that poor villagers, including those in Tanzania, are forced off their land by agribusinesses. This sorry spectacle marginalises subsistence farming.

The investors acquire huge chunks of arable land because they expect world food and commodity prices to increase - so there is money to be made in agriculture. This smacks of greed. Others grab land from poor peasants and keep it for years without developing it.

Mr Clinton said that some farmers had told him sadly that a few foreign investors came to their land claiming to have large agriculture investment capacities but their projects collapsed after a short period. Well, the CDI project is different. It is, actually, a saviour.

The major focus of the CDI will centre on production of maize seeds, other cereals and seeds for garden crops. There will also be contract farming activities through which small scale farmers will be trained in a move that will culminate in transformation of the sector. Farmers and their leaders should be patient as the foundation works on their land. We wish the initiative the best of luck.

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