Friday 5 August 2011

kilimokwanza@guardian.co.tz

SUPPORTING THE PROMOTERS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION

Is Agriculture nolonger the backbone?

NANE NANE 2011

EDITORIALThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Friday 5 August, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZACOVER STORYNANE NANE 2011NANE NANE 2011

Friday 5 August, 2011

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ALL roads have been leading to Dodomafrom the weekend for the week-long NaneNane celebrations to mark Tanzania’sFarmers’ Day, which as usual falls onAugust 8. This is that time of the year thatfarmers all over the country showcase their

achievements in efforts to prove that agriculture is in-deed the backbone of the nation’s economy.

The celebrations are this year marked at nationallevel in the country’s long-designated capital and, just asin all previous years, they have attracted governmentministries and a host of other public and private institu-tions. By the look of things, farmers both small andlarge-scale from across Tanzania are fairly representedat the show and all have been afforded an opportunity tointroduce to the country and the outside world what theyhave been doing to make agriculture contribute to theeconomy.

The celebrations will have served excellent purposeand lived up to popular expectations by standing as aplatform for farmers to learn from each other, thus cross-fertilising their ideas and experiences for the benefit ofall.

Unless this is the case, it will be meaningless callingNane Nane ‘Farmers’ Day’ because recent research find-ings show that some policies and programmes bypasssmallholder farmers, who constitute the majority of thecountry’s farming population. The findings also showthat most smallholders know little about what KilimoKwanza, the national initiative aimed at realising aGreen Revolution in Tanzania, is all about. Ironically, itis this very policy that promises to improve the lot offarmers in the country. Kilimo Kwanza seeks to make itpossible for smallholder farmers to grow for the painfuldays of the hoe to the era of mechanised agriculture andtherefore higher yields with much less sweat and toil.One blessing in disguise is that massive chunks of landtargeted for Kilimo Kwanza belong to smallholder farm-ers in rural areas, from whom it could be “borrowed” (of

course with compensation) to facilitate land acquisitionfor large-scale investment.

According to the country’s land laws, the state couldtake over any idle village land for economic developmentincluding under the umbrella of Kilimo Kwanza.

It should be emphasized, though, that this should notmean leaving those previously laying claim to the landshould be left languishing in abject poverty. This is whyit is of fundamental importance not to budget smallhold-er farmers out of subsidies and other benefits availablethrough Kilimo Kwanza, as most opportunities demandthat one have securities like land titles which many ordi-nary citizens do not have and they thus may not be ableto access loans from financial institutions.

What is even worse is that these farmers can’t affordthe high cost of farm implements, whose distribution ishandled by private dealers oftenmotivated by profit mar-gins. For instance, the price of power tillers ranges be-tween 8m/- and 10m/- and that of tractors between 40m/-and 50m/-. Experts and lay persons alike believe thatthere is still a lot to be done before agriculture can indeedqualify as the backbone of Tanzania’s economy. Part ofthe secret lies in extending to smallholder farming the in-centives it so badly needs to improve – and to realise thedreams of Nane Nane. This would tie in excellently withKilimo Kwanza’s theme for this year, whose literraltranslations goes thus: ‘We have dared, we have made it,and we are soldiering on’.

Caring for small farmersa matter of life and death

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Sweet potatoes toaddress vitamin Adeficiency

Artwork & Design: KN Mayunga To have your organisation promoted in Kilimo Kwanza, Call: 0787 571308, 0655 571308 0754 571308

Government releasesmore funds foragricultural lending

Is Agriculture no longerthe backbone?

Wallace MauggoEditor

P.O. Box 2939, Dar es Slaam, Tanzania

21837701

Bank of Tanzania

2nd WinnerNANE NANE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION - 2010

Nane Nane 2011'Kilimo kwanza, tumethubutu,

tumeweza, tunazidi Kusonga mbele'

SUPPORTING

28641801Private Agricultural Sector Support

Uhuru Street, the NMB Building, 1St Floor P.O. Box 146, Morogoro,TanzaniaTelephone: 023-3752/3758/3765 • e-mail: pass@pass.ac.tz • Website: www.pass.ac.tz

PASS TRUST and BANKSworking together to develop

Commercial Agriculture in Tanzania

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NANE NANE 2011: 'Kilimo kwanza, tumethubutu,tumeweza, tunazidi Kusonga mbele'

By Sunday Moshi

Agriculture has beenchanted the backbone ofthe country’s economysince independence. Thisis because it is thestronghold of the coun-

try’s economy. All unindustrializedcountries cannot avoid having agricul-ture as the backbone of theireconomies since any country needsrevenue and the only alternative to in-dustries is agriculture. We need food,we get it from this sector; we needschool fees for our children, uniformsand whatever other necessity, no othersector but agriculture can providesuch. 80 per cent of the country’s popu-lation turns directly to this sector. Theremaining 20 per cent might say theyhave monthly salaries, but where dothose salaries come from? Of coursethey come from their ministries, com-panies and entrepreneurship, but eventhese would not have money or lifewithout turning to agriculture for both.What will they eat? Who will buy theirmerchandise if the 80 per cent doesnot?We don’t have industries, so all wehave is agriculture to depend upon.

However, agriculture would neverbe if not for the farmer. Tilling of theland, sowing seeds, weeding and har-vesting, plus livestock keeping is whatthe farmer does. And this is what wecall agriculture. Therefore, without thefarmer, we will not have agriculture,without which we’ll never have thebackbone but simply a body like a blob,

without form or stability.If the farmer be so important, why

is he so poor? A carpenter buys timber,works on it with his tools and sells hisfurniture at a profit; an entrepreneurbuys merchandise sells it at a higherprice and makes profit. Even a personwho had gone to school and started acareer gets a million-fold of the moneyexpended on his education. Only thefarmer is supposed to be paid back lessthan what he’d incurred in producingthe crop. And this because theministryhas banned exportation of his produce.According to the government, the banis prompted by fear of a loomingfamine, which is inevitable in spite ofthe ban, due to other outlets of the foodharvested in the country.

It’s true that export of food couldcause famine as feared by the govern-ment, but is the farmer supposed tolive in poverty in spite of all the sea-son’s toil? Is averting famine the farm-ers’ responsibility? Should abundanceof food in the country be at the expenseof the farmer? Of all the Tanzanians is

it only the farmer that is not entitled toa life of comfort, to send his children toEnglish-medium schools, build man-sions and enjoy the fruits of his labour?It seems so since all the other peoplewho participate in other sectors benefitfrom their toil, by selling their servicesand goods at the most maximum pricethey can fetch but the farmer is beingpulled back by the government, to re-main where he was ten years back.When the farmer could sell his/her bagof maize at 20,000/- abroad and thegovernment wants it sold here, thenthe farmer should get the same20,000/- here or else the governmentshould compensates for the difference,should the price be lower. There shouldalso be a ready market, since the gov-ernment may want all the food to besold here when demand is low thansupply.

Instead, the government has im-posed the ban, offering to buy 200,000tonnes of excess food as reported by themedia recently. Mr AllyMohamed, MPforNkasi North –CCMwas reported as

saying that since the ban, the price of abag of maize has dropped down from35,000/- to 24,000/-, which I hopewould be the price the government iswilling to pay. Worse still, according toMr Deusderius Mipata, MP for NkasiSouth –CCM, Rukwa region alone hasa surplus food of 500,000 tonnes whichis 300,000 tons more than the govern-ment can buy.

Nevertheless, the ministry isaware of the surplus above what thegovernment can buy and has disclosedin the budget estimates that it wouldnegotiate sales with the governmentsexperiencing food shortages in theworld. To this Mrs Anne KilangoMalecela, MP for Same East – CCM,has asked the government when it be-gan to get involved in trade and if ithas produced the food it is intending tosell. To us who are not conversant withthe country’s constitution, the hon-ourable MP’s question implies that thegovernment is not involved in trade,but we’ll wonder if an Act prohibitinggovernment’s involvement in trade

would be amended so as to allow a saleof surplus food.

This is evidence of how thefarmer’s contribution to the economy isnot appreciated.

Even though the food export banhas been imposed to avert famine asthe government supposes, food issmuggled out of the country at a terrif-ic pace. According to media reports onJuly 13, 200 lorries illegally ferrymaize to the neighboring country on adaily basis through Himo townshipalone. Since I opened my eyes for thefirst time on earth I have never seenthe door of any police station closed(and I wonder why at all they shouldhave shutters if they don’t close) for thesoldiers are on guard every second ofthe day for twelve months a year, yet200 lorries can ferry maize everydayundeterred. It’s a pity that guards canoverlook to this extent. The only twoalternative roads out of Himo to theborder via Tarakea are within lessthan twenty meters from the door ofHimo police station. The Marangu –Tarakea road goes north fromHimo onthe western side of the police station,while the other outlet overlooks the po-lice station, right in front of the maindoor running eastwards till they uniteat Mwika and across the border, viaRombo.

Smuggling is done by tycoons whofarmers look upon as their saviour, forthey come for the food they could notsell. A peasant in a village cannot sell

Is Agriculture nolonger the backbone?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

FINANCINGThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Friday 5 August, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAFINANCING

Friday 5 August, 2011

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tions of the borrower to ensure thatfunds are properly utilized and theintended objective is achieved.

Q. Does TIB engage other in-stitutions in administration ofthe facility?

A. In consideration of the exist-ing collateral limitations by mostfarmers, TIB entered into agreementwith Private Agriculture SectorSupport (PASS) that offers CreditGuarantees to eligible borrowers.The Guarantee cover ranges from50-60 % of the loan amount. PASSalso assists farmers with prelimi-nary analysis and preparation ofbusiness plans and provides techni-cal assistance and advisory services.Another measure intended to mini-mize the collateral problem is grouplending as opposed to individuallending to take advantage of peerpressure among members which hasproved to be effective elsewhere. TIBhas also engaged a third party withfarm equipment knowledge and me-chanical know-how in order tostrengthen equipment maintenanceand the monitoring and supervisionof the projects particularly on servic-ing of loans for the tractors, powertillers and other farm implements.The bank entered into aMemorandum of Understandingwith Developing MechanisedAgriculture Company Limited(DEMACO). Among other obliga-tions, DEMACO identifies and mon-itors Savings and Credit Co-opera-tive Societies (SACCOS) and pro-vides mechanical support and train-ing to farmers on how to operatetheir farm equipment and tools andsubmits reports to the bank. DEMA-CO also plays an intermediary rolebetween farmers and equipmentsuppliers.

Q. How many farmers havebenefited from the facility sofar?

A. As at 30th June 2011, TIBhad approved loans to a number ofprojects. The cumulative disburse-ments were TZS 20,782,526,443.02.Out of the approved projects, 15were corporate borrowers, 27 SAC-COS, and 6 microfinance institu-tions.

The projects financed followedall the necessary bank procedures,which include among others projectappraisal, approval processes, prop-er submission and registration of therequired security documents. Typesof securities in place include legalmortgages on farms and other land-ed properties, pledges of machiner-ies, liens on fixed deposits and guar-antees.

Items procured through theseloans include tractors, power tillers,irrigation equipment, livestock, mo-tor vehicles for farm business pur-poses and other farm implementssuch as trailers and storage equip-ments to mention but a few. So far atotal of 87 tractors have been pur-chased and are in use by variousbeneficiaries of the fund. In addition

to this, 82 power tillers are in use byfarmers in Iringa, Morogoro,Singida, Mbeya, Arusha, Dodoma,Rukwa, and Coast regions. Eligiblefarmers in Shinyanga, Songea,Kagera, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro,Tanga and Mtwara have been fi-nanced to procure seeds, fertilizer,chemicals and other farm inputs forfarm operations. In Dar Es Salaam,Morogoro, Arusha, Dodoma andMwanza, livestock farmers havebeen supported. A total of 12 motor-cycles and four motor vehicles havealso been procured to support agri-cultural activities.

Q. What are TIB’s expecta-tions from the projects fi-nanced?

A. A range of products are ex-pected from the various projects fi-nanced throughout the country. Thefarm products expected includemaize and maize seeds, paddy,flower seeds, onions, simsim, cashewnuts, sunflower, sugarcane, sisal,beans and horticultural productsamong others. Animal products in-clude milk, both pork and beefsausages, meat and hides amongmany others.

Q. Can you please commenton the servicing of the loans.

A. Given the nature of the proj-ects financed, realization of outputstakes time and is seasonal. In con-sideration of this, the bank grantedloans with grace periods rangingfrom six to twelve months. Most ofthe projects are still enjoying thegrace period although a considerablenumber of customers have startedpaying interest and the repayment issatisfactory. For the first quarterending 31stMarch 2011, TIB collect-ed a total of Tshs 108,278,029.23 ofwhich Tsh 12,057,500.81 was inter-est and TZS 96,220,528.42 was prin-cipal. The cumulative figure from20th May 2010 to 30th June 2011 isTZ 245,328,869.92 for both interestand principal.

Q.What can you say has beenthe socio-economic impact of theloans?

A. Loans have been issued to fi-nance various agricultural activitiesranging from production to process-ing, purchase of tractors, powertillers and other farm implements,improved seeds and fertilizers. Mostof the projects are still in their im-plementation phase as the farmingseason for many areas started fromOctober 2010 to March 2011.Therefore, a socio- economic impactof the financed projects will becomeevident by end of agriculture seasonat the end of this year.

The expected impact will be re-vealed through increased agricultur-al productivity and production, in-creased food security, improved ru-ral livelihoods, improved agricultur-al mechanization and employmentcreation.

Food prices will also fall andthere will be an increase in the num-ber of small and medium processing

plants. The bank will be able to pro-vide analysis of the socio-economicimpact with supporting data interms of performance of the aboveindicators by the end of the agricul-tural season.

Q. Any challenges faced inlending to the agriculture sec-tor?

A. Challenges encountered in-clude the fact that many of the bor-rowers, especially small scale farm-ers lack managerial and technicalskills to run projects. Also, the ma-jority of the applications submittedare either incomplete or non-bank-able and some don’t meet many ofthe eligibility criteria. This causesdelays in the project analysisprocess. Another challenge is lack oflegal titles to use as collateral formost farmers. Furthermore, poorquality farming equipment fromsuppliers and unreliable rains orlong periods of drought and other se-vere weather conditions pose thethreat of poor realization of agricul-tural output in terms of both quanti-ty and quality. Infrastructure suchas poor roads is another challengewhich hinders transportation of bothoutputs and inputs to and frommar-ket centres.

Q. What do you think shouldbe done to improve the perform-ance and activities of the lend-ing window?

A. TIB in collaboration with oth-er stakeholders should consider de-vising Technical AssistancePrograms to improve the manageri-al and technical capacities of smallscale farmers so as to enhance theirborrowing eligibility and bankabilityof their projects. The governmentshould, through Property andBusiness Formalisation Programme(MKURABITA) and relevant au-thorities such as Ministry of Landsand Human SettlementsDevelopment, consider fast trackingthe process of land surveys and is-suance of title deeds in respect tofarms and other landed properties tobe mortgaged as collaterals.

Government authorities andother stakeholders should also con-sider facilitating creation of irriga-tion infrastructure and schemes inareas that support agricultural prac-tices to overcome the climatic dy-namics.

The government should considermaking arrangements for establish-ment and use of crop or livestock in-surance schemes so as to minimizeagricultural risks. It should also im-prove market information dissemi-nation and marketing systems in or-der to enable farmers to have a clearprice discovery mechanism.

Through the Centre forAgricultural Mechanisation andRural Technology (CAMARTEC),government and relevant authoritiessuch as the ministry of infrastruc-ture should consider revising andrecommend best brands of agricul-ture equipment.

By Kilimo Kwanza Reporter

In July 2011, the govern-ment increased the agricul-ture window capital baseby investing another Tshs20bn, making thewindow aTshs 40bn business.

Tanzania Investment BankLimited (TIB) continues to admin-ister the funds on government’s be-half. This is a measure to facilitateincreased access to affordable fi-nancing for the previously under-lent sector pending the establish-ment of Tanzania AgricultureDevelopment Bank (TADB). TheWindow will be transferred toTADB once it is operational.

The bank granted TheGuardian’s Kilimo Kwanza an in-terview on the implementation ofthe project. Here are excerpts…

Q. Briefly tell us TIB’s role in fi-nancing the agriculture sectorthrough the agricultural projectsfinancing window.

A. As a development bank, TIB isexpected to play a major role in sup-porting the government to implementthe Tanzania Development Vision 2025that aims at transforming Tanzaniafrom a low productivity to a semi-in-dustrialised economy, with a modernagricultural sector that is integratedinto industrial and service activitiesconducted in both rural and urban ar-

eas. TIB is also supposed to support theimplementation of the AgriculturalSector Development Programme(ASDP) that aims at modernizing andcommercialising agriculture, therebymaking it the backbone of the economy.In this regard, small scale farmers willbe brought into the mainstream ofmodern and commercial agriculturethrough initiatives such as ‘KilimoKwanza’ and thus the establishment ofthe Agricultural Projects FinancingWindow at TIB and the establishmentof TADB.

Q. How does the bank go aboutlending to the sector?

A. Before commencement ofAgricultural Projects Financing

Window lending activities, TIB in col-laboration with theMinistry of Financeand the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) pre-pared a lending framework to guide theWindow’s lending operations. The lend-ing framework among other things,stipulates the major terms and proce-dures for lending. The framework wasapproved by theMinister for Finance inDecember 2009. Following approval ofthe lending framework by the ministry,TIB and MOF signed an AgencyAgreement in May 2010.

Q. What criteria does TIB usein lending to farmers?

A. Agricultural Projects FinancingWindow loans are extended to agricul-tural projects for short, medium and

long-terms, based on the nature of theactivity. Loans are provided to financeproduction, processing and marketingin all agriculture and agriculture-relat-ed projects for short, medium and longterms. Emphasis is placed on financingprimary production as opposed to otheractivities such as processing and trad-ing which can access and afford com-mercial borrowings.

TIB performs projects assessmentto determine their financial viability,economic feasibility and social accept-ability for sustainable agriculture de-velopment. Only proposals that meeteligibility criteria are approved for fi-nancing. Administration of the facilityinvolves disbursements, monitoring,and evaluation and business opera-

Government releases more funds for agricultural lending

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NANE NANE 2011NANE NANE 2011

TIB’s Jaffer Machano welcomingthe Vice President Dr Gharib Bilalito TIB’s pavillion at the on goingNane Nane agricultural show fairat Nzuguni in Dodoma(Photo by OMAR fUNGO)

FOOD SECURITYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Friday 5 August, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAFINANCING

Friday 5 August, 2011

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their extra food to a neighbor sincethat neighbor also has a surplus oftheir own. The government hasbanned exporting food. The peasantwants school fees for his/her children’sschool fees and other essentials. Thetycoon who calls at the door, buys thefood at a throw-away price and ordersthe farmer to carry it on his/her head tothe tycoon’s buying station, to beloaded onto the truck.

This tycoon ferries the food in day-light all over the country from Rukwaor elsewhere to Himo township wherehe waits for the 10.00 p.m. crossing ofthe border. The country’s disadvantagehere is two-fold: a drought-hit residentof Singida region cannot get maizefrom Rukwa at a reasonable price, butcan see the bags on transit. Also theRukwa peasant has not gained any-thing, since the sale has been below the

cost of production.In this again we can see how both

this farmer and a fellow peasant whodidn’t harvest anything due to droughtin Singida region are left desperate,unable to help each other.

If the Singida resident could accessthe food from Rukwa, the Rukwa peas-ant might have sold it at a better priceand this would have been an advan-tage to both. But the tycoon would sellit at double the price he’s paid andwould not even pay taxes in the coun-try because food export has beenbanned and permits invalidated or an-nulled. What he’ll pay is only what iscalled “road-toll” payable to authoritieswho facilitate the illegal journey acrossthe border and without a receipt of anykind.

This is why some civil servantsworking in border zones vow to resignif they are transferred elsewhere. Aperson used to easy money will not tol-

erate a life of a meagermonthly salary.After all the food has been smug-

gled away from the country, the gov-ernment would then send relief foodfrom its reserves to the regions experi-encing shortages. If this be so, to whatpurpose has the ban been imposed, ifnot to demoralize the farmers and en-rich the tycoons and facilitators of thegame who are also government ser-vants?

To avoid food smuggling, hencescarcity in the country, former MP forVunjo constituency, Mr Aloyse Kimarowas recently quoted as saying; “ If thegovernment cared for the maize farm-ers, it should scout for markets thatcan attract maize producers to disposeof their produce.” The above is not asbad as the recent research findings onthe participation of grass root commu-nities in Kilimo Kwanza. TheseUniversity of Dar es Salaam re-searchers commissioned by Land

Research and Resources Institute(HAKIARDHI) found out that smallscale producers who constitute 80 percent of the country’s population werenot consulted to give their views on thedesign of KilimoKwanza, therefore thedesign represents the views and inter-ests of business communities.According to this study, if they hadbeen fully involved from the planningstage it would have made a big differ-ence in the initiative and the economicsituation in the country.

There is still a lot to be done if westill think agriculture is the backboneof our country. Among such things areextension and supplies of agriculturalofficers who must be accountable andresponsible to the communities and inorder to play their role with efficiency,they should be supported in terms oftransport and financial resources es-sential for the transformation of agri-culture.

By Angel Navuri

SUMA JKT has defended its trac-tor prices in response to a recent state-ment by Prime Minister MizengoPinda that the tractors were too ex-pensive for an ordinary farmer to af-ford.

The PrimeMinister said this whenhe visited the JKT stall at the SabaSaba grounds last month. Currently,the price for a tractor is at an averageof 25m/-.

SUMA JKT Project Manager LtCol Felix Samillan said in an interviewwith Kilimo Kwanza that the price forthe tractors is fair since the farmerdoes not incur any cost for mainte-nance.

“The price for the tractors is really

fair to a farmer because the tractorsare maintained by SUMA JKT and sothe farmer doesn’t have to incur anymore expenses once they buy them,”Samillan said

According to him, SUMA JKT pro-vides training to the farmers as well asmaintaining the tractors through outtheir life time. The tractors are alsoferried free of charge to the farmer’sdestination, a service that not all com-panies can provide.

The focus according to Samillan ison making sure that the ordinaryfarmer will be able to benefit from thetractors.

He said many other companies inthe business do not provide free main-tenance or training to farmers and thatthe tractors later become a burden to

the farmers since most can not affordthe maintenance cost.

In October last year, the PrimeMinister received 288 of the total of1860 tractors and other agriculturalimplements from India which were do-nated to the Tanzania People’s DefenceForce –National Service EconomicWing (SUMA JKT). The country ac-quired the tractors on a USD40m loandeal with the government of India forfinancing agriculture.

A total of 900 tractors have alreadybeen ordered from SUMA JKT and 86have been sold so far.

It was previously reported thathundreds of tractors were idly parkedat the SUMA JKT yard in Dar esSalaam as the farmers couldn’t affordthe price. Indeed tractor sales across

the country have remained less thanimpressive, with the would be pur-chasers complaining of bottlenecks inaccessing credit to purchase the ma-chinery.

Most financial institutions operat-ing in the country have only paid lipservice to the Kilimo Kwanza revolu-tion, claiming that they support theinitiative but turning a cold shoulderon actual lending for production, espe-cially to small and mid-scale farmerslooking to change their fortunes.

Whilst most of the currently avail-able loans to agriculture are limited toagro-processing and often at high anduncompetitive interest rates, it doesn’thelp much that most Tanzanian farm-ers lack the relevant sureties to accessthe loans in the first place.

By Kilimo Kwanza Reporter

Poor infrastructure is oneof the major hurdles ham-pering the development ofthe agriculture sector andstakeholders call for quickintervention to improve

the situation. They argue that if thecountry’s Kilimo Kwanza policy is tosucceed, infrastructure developmentshould be given priority.

In most parts of the country, farm-ers fail to transport their produce tothe market due to poor roads. As a re-sult, a big portion of the produce rots inthe farms. Poor infrastructure has alsobeen the reason farmers don’t get a fairdeal from unfaithful business peoplewho take advantage of the situation.

And it is because of poor roads thatsome fertilizer companies dedicated tothe development of the country’s agri-culture sector decided to set centres asclose to farmers as possible to savethem the trouble to trek the poor roadsto buy fertiliser something only a fewcan dare to do.

One such company is ExportTrading Company Limited (ETG)which has centres in every region. The

company’s presence in all the regionshas been a relief to farmers who wouldotherwise be forced to travel long dis-tances using the poor roads to buy fer-tilizer.

“We want to create a strong andlong term relationship with farmers.ETG is the largest importers of fertiliz-er in Africa with centres in every re-gion,” Banwari Jhawar, ETG’s AgroInputs Co-ordinator says.

ETG which has offices in 35 coun-tries in Africa, India, US and Chinaand more than 45 centres in Tanzaniabelieves in working closely with farm-ers by paying them after-sale visits forfeedback. The company not only sellsfertiliser to the farmers but also teach-es them how best to use it.

“We also visit them for demonstra-tion, to show them how to use the fer-tilizer. Farmers enjoy it when officialsfrom the company visit them,” saidBanwari adding that ETGmaintains afarmers’ record and makes follow-upon them.

The company provides free train-ing to farmers on fertiliser use becausesome farmers don’t know how to use it.

“Many farmers use fertiliser andwe have centres everywhere to enable

them to get it easily and directly fromus.” The challenge when that some-times farmers may not have qualityseeds which makes things difficultwhen training them on how to use fer-tiliser. With ETG farmers are free tobuy any amount of fertiliser dependingon the size of their pockets. This, ac-cording to Banwari gives access tosmall holder farmers who can not af-ford to buy fertiliser in bulk.

The company, which has been inbusiness for over five years boasts of agood relationship with farmers whoBanwari says are free to call any timeof the day for free consultation.

“I receive farmers’ calls very late atnight. My phone is on 24 hours a day,”he says adding; “we are supportingKilimo Kwanza by supporting farmers.Enhancing Africa’s potential is ourmotto.”

ETG also buys commodities fromfarmers for processing and export, sellsdifferent types of tractors and is amongthe largest buyers of cashew nuts inMtwara, Lindi, Tunduru and Masasi.ETG also supplies pesticides forcashew nuts and other agro-chemi-cals.

Banwari urges the government toimprove the sector as well as the livesof farmers since agriculture is thebackbone of the country’s economy.

He advises farmers to beware ofcompanies that take advantage of une-ducated farmers and give them falsepromises and low prices for their pro-duce.

SUMA JKT defends tractor prices

Helping farmersin remote areas

P. O. Box : 912, Arusha, Tanzania.Tel: +255 27 253 92 59, 250 46 79, 250 63 68, Fax: +255 27 254 50 13 Email: sales@minjingumines.com

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FROM PAGE 3

NDC Committed toaddressing poverty

By Kilimo Kwanza Reporters

The National DevelopmentCorporation (NDC) is looking forland so it can partner with an in-vestor in sweet sorghum produc-tion.

Plans are still in initial stagesand the corporation requires 20,000hectares for the project that willcontribute to employment and in-come generation. Currently, NDChas only acquired 5,000 hectares inKimara Masale in KisaraweDistrict.

Once it takes off, the project willnot only contribute to job creationand food security but will also re-duce the chronic power shortage inthe country through biofuel produc-tion from the sweet sorghum stems.At least USD 500m is needed to es-tablish the project and the scale ofthe agro-processing factories to beestablished will depend on landavailability.

Godwill Wanga, NDC’s Directorof Research, Planning andIndustrialists Development said;

“At the moment we are strugglingto get enough land and once we getit, investors will bring in a hugeplant to add value to our productswhich could help generate foreignexchange through export.”

According to Wanga, at least300 employment opportunities willbe created when the project finallytakes off. About 100 out growerswill be contracted to supply rawma-terials for the industries to be es-tablished in the project area.

Nothing from the sweetsorghum plant will be thrown awayfor even the stems and roots will beused in different ways. The sweetsorghum dregs will be used to runthe food processing plant to be es-tablished in the area. They will alsobe used as animal feeds.

A power plant also to be estab-lished under the project will obtainfeedstock from the contracted outgrowers. Power generated will besupplied to people in the neighbour-hood and will be evacuated to thenational grid if the plant producesenough for the purpose.

Local sugarto competeglobally

By Angel Navuri

The sugar industry in Tanzaniais set to compete globally once theplanned production increment by2015 gets under way.

This was revealed by theDeputy Minister for Trade andIndustry Lazaro Nyalandu who at-tended The 12th African, Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP) Group of StatesSpecial Ministerial Conference onSugar that was held in MaputoMozambique last week.

‘’ Under Kilimo Kwanza, we areto double the sugar production out-put by 2015. Currently, TZ pro-duces about 300,000 metric tonnesof sugar per year,” said Nyalandu .

He explained that the countrywould increase production underthe Maputo agreement for the EUmarket using the same market ac-cess protocol negotiated under ACP.

Giving details he said that cur-rently, the country imports 100,000tonnes of industrial sugar, and50,000 tonnes of edible sugar.Tanzania’s sugar demand is esti-mated at 480,000 tonnes per an-num while production is little over300,000 tonnes. In Kenya the de-mand for sugar stands at 700,000tonnes against a production of500,000 tonnes, while Uganda pro-duces an average of 300,000 tonnes,consuming 325,000 tonnes.

Earlier this year, the EastAfrican Society for Sugar CaneTechnologists (EASSCT) waslaunched in Arusha, Tanzania, withone of the key aims being to striveto increase sugar production in theregion. The society that is affiliatedto the International Society ofSugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT)seeks to address the often seriousshortage of the essential commodityin the region.

It will encourage continuous re-search and extension to prepareand equip the technologists withrequisite skills and knowledge tomake them regionally and globallycompetitive.

The ACP Special MinisterialCommittee that was attended byMinister Nyalandu was the first tobe held since the termination of theSugar Protocol in October of 2009.This marked a new phase of sugartrade between the ACP group andthe EU and ushered in a more com-petitive environment where closervigilance and monitoring is re-quired to ensure continued sustain-ability of local sugar industries.

The world market representsopportunities and challenges which,if handled judiciously, could allowsugar industries within the ACP toexpand. While the objective is in-creased production of value-addedsugars; co-generation of energy,ethanol production and sugar refin-ing may further support the devel-opment of the ACP sugarcane in-dustries, reducing costs and im-proving productivity and competi-tiveness. 28

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Agriculture no longer the backbone?NANE NANE 2011NANE NANE 2011

FOOD SECURITYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Friday 5 August, 2011

8

By Kilimo Kwanza Reporter

Sweet things are in the off-ing for the farmers takingpart in the ‘Eat Orange’and ‘Marando Bora’ proj-ects that promote the cul-tivation and consumption

of orange fleshed sweet potatoes inthirteen districts of Mwanza, Kageraand Mara regions.

T-MARC Tanzania, a local non-governmental organization is partner-ing with Helen Keller International(HKI) to help improve food security inTanzania by promoting and facilitat-ing the production and consumption oforange fleshed and white fleshed vari-eties of sweet potatoes in the lake re-gions of the country.

One of the goals of the project is toincrease agricultural production byproviding Tanzanian farmers withhigher yielding, virus-free and morerobust vines of sweet potato varieties.These new varieties are not only high-er yielding, but have higher levels ofbeta-carotene and Vitamin A, nutri-ents that are important in combatingblindness and nutrient deficiencies.

The project which is on showcasein the ongoing Nane Nane agricultur-al fair in Mwanza also promotes con-sumption of nutrient rich varieties ofsweet potato and encourages behav-

iours that enhance good nutrition.Farmers are also connected to in-

come generating activities, and thisproject will help improve the healthstatus of consumers as well as the eco-nomic status of farmers.

Vitamin A deficiency is a problemof public health significance withinTanzania with studies showing that itmostly affects children and women ofchild bearing age.

An estimated 35% of Tanzanianchildren grow up with Vitamin A defi-

ciency which leads to lowered immu-nity, frequent ill health and poorgrowth. The most obvious results ofVitamin A deficiency is progressivedamage to the eye, eventually leadingto blindness. It is estimated that morethan 250,000 preschool children goblind each year.

Sub clinical vitamin A deficiencyis a much more widespread problem,contributing to an increased risk ofmorbidity andmortality from commonchildhood infections. The prevalence

of sub clinical vi-tamin A deficien-cy in infants fedbreast milk sug-gests that lactat-ing women in de-veloping coun-tries may alsohave insufficientstores of vitaminA.

Young chil-dren are at highrisk of developingvitamin A defi-ciency due totheir increasedneed duringgrowth and theirvulnerability toinfections.Women of child-bearing age arealso at risk be-cause of their in-creased need forthe vitamin, bothduring pregnan-cy and, muchmore, during lac-tation. Vitamin Adeficiency resultsfrom two primaryfactors: inade-quate intake ofpreformed vita-min A and vita-min A precursors(provitamin A,carotenoids).

T-MARC istasked with de-veloping and im-plementing a re-vised communi-cation plan to in-crease food secu-rity and to pro-mote the healthbenefits of sweet

potatoes to Tanzanian consumers.The comprehensive plan includes aframework for communication chan-nels andmethods, messages, audienceanalysis, monitoring indicators andidentifying appropriate marketing av-enues for the produce.

“We are in the final stages ofprinting the communication and pro-motional materials,” said T-MARC’sProgrammeManager, ImmaKapinga.

T-MARC is developing a revisedcommunication strategy that includessignboards for easy identification ofthe sites where the project is being im-plemented and identification of mar-ket days for sale of the produce. Thecoming month should see a roll out ofmarket day promotions and field daysto further enhance awareness andsupport for the project.

Farmers participating in the proj-ect expect quadruple gains from thesweet potato vines. Besides reaping,eating and selling more bountiful har-vests of nutrient rich sweet potatoes,farmers can also sell the sweet potatovines to fellow farmers, thus providingalternative avenues for income gener-ation. Furthermore sweet potato vinesmake good fodder for livestock.

The sweet potato project supportsthe country’s green ambitions, espe-cially the paradigm shift to the strate-gic framework of Kilimo Kwanzawhich is the fourth pillar of the greenrevolution. The Kilimo Kwanza strat-egy aims to identify priority areas forthe production of strategic food com-modities for the country’s food self suf-ficiency and especially crops that cantransform agriculture quickly andwith minimal financial and technolog-ical requirements. Amongst other ac-tivities, this pillar puts in placearrangements for the production ofstrategic commodities such as pota-toes, cassava, grains, legumes, fish,meat and dairy products.

Sweet potatoes are amongst thesecrops that require minimal financialand technological requirements andalso have a huge potential in growingdomestic and external market de-mands while creating employment op-portunities for the rural and urbanpopulations.

“Everything is on track and massdissemination of vines is expected tobe in October and November, so farm-ers should expect to start reaping ben-efits of the program very soon,” Immaconcluded.

KILIMOKWANZADIRECTORY

FINANCETanzania Investment Bank Ltd (TIB)Tel: +255 22 2411101-9Private Agricultural Sector Support (PASS)Tel: 023-3752/3758/3765

Bank of TanzaniaP.O. Box 2939, Dar es Slaam,Tanzania

WATER AND SANITATION

Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority(DAWASA) – Tel: +255 22 276 0006

Dar es Salaam Water and Sewarage Corporation(DAWASCO) Tel: +255 22-2131191/4

Drilling and Dam Construction Agency (DDCA)Tel: +255 22 2410430/2410299

Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory AuthorityTel: +255 22 2123850, 22 2123853

Water and Environmental Sanitation ProjectsMaintenance Organization (WEPMO)Tel: +255 22 2410738, 716 099959

Ministry of WaterTel: +255 22 245 1448

INDUSTRY SUPPORT ANDASSOCIATIONS

Small Industries Development Organization(SIDO) – Email: dg@sido.go.tz, info@sido.go.tz

ANSAF - P.O. Box 6370, Dar es Salaam

CNFA - info@cnfatanzania.org

Tractors LimitedCells: +255 784 421606, 786 150213

Consolidated Holdings Corporation (CHC)Tel: 255 (022) 2117988/9

Vocational Education and Training Authority(VETA) – Tel: +255 22 2863683/2863409

Export Processing Zones in Tanzania (EPZ)Tel: +255 22 2451827-9

Agricultural Economics Society of Tanzania(AGREST) – Tel. +255-23 260 3415

Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC)Tel: +255 22 2122984-6

Tanzania Agriculture Partnership (TAP)Tel: +255 22 2124851

Tanzania Milk Processors Association (TAMPA)Tel: +255 222 450 426

Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC)Tel: +255 26 2321455

Tanzania Cotton BoardTel: +255 22 2122564, 2128347

Horticultural DevelopmentCouncil of Tanzania (HODECT)Cell: +255 789 222 344; Fax: +255 27254 4568

TATEECO Ltd – Tel: +255 784 427817

AGRO-PROCESSING

ERTH Food - Tel: +255 22 2862040

MUKPAR Tanzania LtdTel: +255 28 250038/184

ASAS Diaries Limited - Tel: +255 26 2725200

Tanga Fresh – Tel +255 27 2644238

NatureRipe Kilimanjaro LimitedTel: +255 22 21 51457

EQUIPMENT

Achelis Tanganyika Ltd+255 22 2700 760 or +255 784 300 084

National Service Corporation Sole (SUMAJKT)Cell: +255 717 993 874, 715 787 887

AGRO-INPUTS

Minjingu Mines & Fertilizers LtdTel: +255 27 253 9259 250 4679

Sweet potatoes to address vitamin A deficiency

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JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEM LIMITEDOCAL REPRESENTATIVE -TANZANIA, RUPA SUCHAK

TEL: 0713583303 E-MAIL: ceo@jamboplastics.com

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We process these for export and domestic markets

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28641901

NANE NANE 2011