Government outlines measures to revive coffee production in Kilimanjaro
Dodoma. The government on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 has outlined five measures aimed at reviving coffee production in Kilimanjaro Region.
The five measures were outlined by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe when responding to a question from Hai Constituency MP Saashisha Mafuwe (CCM) who sought to know if the government saw the importance of reviving coffee production in Hai District and Kilimanjaro Region at large.
Responding to the MP, Mr Bashe said measures taken by the government include recuperating the Kilimanjaro Cooperative Union (KNCU) by returning its properties that were arbitrarily sold and take legal action against embezzlers.
“The government is strengthening the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI) by providing it with resources that will enable it to undertake coffee research responsibilities and produce quality seedlings,” he said.
He said the government is also mobilizing farmers to plant quality seedlings sold at as low as Sh100 per seedling, noting that 1,203,300 have been distributed to 3,270 famers.
According to him, the government is working to end contractual disputes between cooperative unions and investors in 17 coffee plantations in order for the farms to be used in increasing production.
“The government is also working to revive the 12 Coffee Processing Units (CPU) that are owned by small scale farmers in Hai District,” he said, adding that outlined measures will resuscitate the crop production.
He said these measures are being taken following the decline of production from 3,486 tonnes in 2014/15 to 1,428.80 tonnes in 2020/21 which is equivalent to 59 percent.
According to him, the decline has been contributed by farmers abandoning their farms due to deterioration of the former coffee production pillars in the region and climate change that leads to drought and decrease of water for irrigation purposes.
Responding to a supplementary question from Special Seats MP Judith Kapinga, Mr Bashe said the government has this season instructed buyers to directly pay farmers and avoid bureaucracy of cooperative unions and Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (Amcos).
Mr Bashe promised review of levies charged on coffee sales in order to increase farmers’ benefits, saying farmers are mobilized to work in cooperatives where they can have one voice in increasing efficiency and advocate for better prices.
