How Tanzania agriculture bank, Prisons plan to boost palm oil production

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) and Tanzania Prisons Service have revealed their plan to establish a joint palm oil plantation in Kigoma.

Also, under the joint venture, a palm oil refinery factory will be built, the Commissioner General of Prisons, Mr Phaustine Kasike, said yesterday.

Two top leaders of the institutions met in Dar es Salaam yesterday to chart out ways through which the latter could implement the project with funding from the former.

“In short, we have agreed to undertake the project as a matter of priority and I’m glad to note that TADB has happily accepted our proposal to fund the project, which is actually going to take us to the next level,” he said.

He said the meeting was a response to calls from President John Magufuli and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa to ensure that farms for the Prisons Department in Kigoma Region were turned around for massive oil palm production.

TADB’s acting managing director Japhet Justine said Tanzania Prisons had everything that a lender required.

He said TADB will provide necessary financing in the areas to be agreed upon, saying the bank’s vision was to ensure that institutions like Tanzania Prisons were facilitated to contribute largely to the food security and creating employment and increasing government revenue.

“We must respond to the directives issued by our leaders. It is for this purpose that the bank was established. As an agricultural bank, we are duty bound to ensure that our agricultural sector was carried out to the next level with necessary funding and facilities,” he said.

The lender has released a total of Sh39.3 billion in loans to Zanzibar and eight Mainland regions since 2016, all in agriculture related projects.