Cashew crisis prompts major co-operative reforms

Dar es Salaam. The cashew nut crisis has prompted the government to initiate major reforms that seek to overhaul cooperative unions in their role on improving the agriculture sector in the country.

The reform process, which has already began, will touch on policies, laws and regulations that regulate cooperatives in order to increase their efficiency, strengthen oversight of their activities, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Japhet Hasunga told The Citizen yesterday. Equally significant, the reforms seek to enable cooperatives to function better as a bridge between farmers and markets at fair prices, Mr Hasunga, the MP for Vwawa, added.

“The reforms are inevitable if the government is to help farmers. The co-operative system must be reviewed for the benefit of farmers and the country in general,” he said.

The minister said he has already met executives in the ministry of Agriculture and briefed them on what the government wants achieved.

“I’m now planning to meet stakeholders and experts in the agriculture sector in order highlight specific areas of reforms,” Mr Hasunga noted.

Reforms will be done in time to ensure cashew nut farmers get farm inputs at better prices for the next season, Mr Hasunga asserted.

The cashew nut crisis, which started when farmers refused to sell their produce at a price below Sh3,000 per kilo in October, and escalated when buyers refused to purchase the crop at that price was, according to analysts, the tip of the iceberg of challenges facing the agriculture sector.

The crisis forced the government to intervene in the cashew nut business by purchasing all the cashew nuts from farmers.

But not only did the cashew nut crisis highlight the inefficacies of co-operatives, it also exposed the bureaucracy and inefficiency of crop boards that were set up by the government to oversee the development of various crops.

President John Magufuli had to disband the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) accusing it of being the source of problems in the cashew nut sub-sector. He also sent a warning to other boards saying he would not hesitate to disband them if they fail to supervise their sub-sectors.

And now the government says for farmers to be able to enjoy the fruits of the free market, co-operatives must function well.

“The government’s intervention in the cashew nut business was temporary, it will not continue. We want co-operatives to be able to help farmers access markets and farm inputs at fair prices,” Mr Hasunga noted.

Cooperatives are guided by the Co-operative Development Policy of 2002, the Co-operative Societies Act, 2003 and the Co-operative Societies Regulations, 2016. Reforms will be done in time to ensure cashew nut farmers get farm inputs at better prices for the next season, Mr Hasunga asserted.