Pine trees bring new hope for Iringa, Njombe growers

However, in recent years, the growing of the pine tree (msindano) has attracted many growers who, from it, harvest sap to earn extra income.

This sap harvesting business has been a promising opportunity for many of them while they wait for their trees to mature for timber harvesting.

In a recent interview with The Citizen, the director of Mastan Solution Company Ltd., Mr Magaka Mponda, revealed that the business was a good opportunity for the residents of the area to seize up and earn extra income.

He notes that his firm started harvesting sap in August 2022 from 600,000 to 800,000 pine trees on leased farms.

“The company doesn’t own such farms; we just have agreements with the owners to harvest sap from their farms that we have leased. However, individual pine tree farm owners have been selling their harvested sap to us,” he says.

He said outgrowers who sell their harvested sap to his company come from Makete, Njombe, Ludewa, Mufindi, and Mtili.

He says the sap harvesting activities by his firm started last year because it took a bit long to do so, and they began to ferry it from the farms this year.

“You can harvest a lot of sap, but during the rainy season it becomes difficult to transport because of the bad state of road infrastructure. So, we have to wait until the roads are in good condition to take it to the barn for packaging before exporting it,” says the director.

He notes that the growers and the company have gotten great benefits, considering that the business is still new in the country. He says in the beginning, many growers were used to cultivating pine trees for timber, but now the sap business helps them earn extra income before timber harvesting.

“As the growers wait to harvest their trees for timber, they can collect the sap first, or they can decide whether to harvest trees for timber or continue to collect the sap,” says the director.

“Sap harvesting has no harm to the trees as it increases the value of the trees and also brings additional income to growers,” says Mr Mponda.

According to Mr Mponda, before harvesting the trees for timber, the farmer can harvest the sap for a period of four to five years.

“Many residents are motivated to grow pine trees because of the benefits of harvesting the sap or gum before harvesting them for timber,” he says.

“This year we have managed to export several containers of pine tree sap, but we will know how much we have ex-ported by December,” he says.

He explained that they buy the pine tree sap from growers in Tanzanian currency, but they sell it abroad in US dollars.

He says the sap from the pine tree is used for making various products, but unfortunately, he explains, here in the country there is no factory that can do so, a situation that has impelled them to export it as raw material.

“The pine tree sap has various uses, including being used for cold medicine, vet medicine, cosmetics, foods, and clothes. However, we use these products without knowing what they are made of,” says the director.

He says China is the main market they currently rely on. He asks the government to find other foreign markets for them in order to expand their business.

“The government needs to find other types of the pine tree because the one we have in the country does not have a good market internationally compared to those found in Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, which attract a good market in the world,” says Mr Mponda. Despite the success, he says the business is facing various challenges, including its newness in the country and little awareness among the citizens to harvest the sap from their pine trees for fear that they may wither.

“This situation leads to getting small farms while we need to get big ones. So, we are requesting the government to see how it can reduce prices so that we can harvest sap from its farms in a bigger size,” insisted the director.

A resident of Kinyambo and a sap trader, Ms Selina Mwihanga, says she has decided to do the business that helps her get extra income.

“This pine tree sap business has come at the right time. “It has been six months since I started it, and now it has begun to bear fruit, harvesting on a 15-hectare farm,” says Ms Selina.

Ms Mwihanga notes that the business is good because it has quick and reliable income despite its low price, which helps them meet their needs.

One of the businessmen from Njombe, Mr Mesia Mabena, says the business has great prospects as he has already hired some young people to do the business on their farms.

“Residents owning farms with pine trees need to focus on this business because they will be able to earn more in-come before harvesting timber,” says Mr Mabena.

Recently, Mufindi District Commissioner Linda Salekwa made a visit to the Mastan factory, where she was able to see the various steps involved in the preparation of sap, including its packaging for export.

She urged the residents of the district to seize the opportunity of harvesting the pine tree sap in order to earn more income.

The DC said that despite the good job done by the factory management, they need to establish another factory that will add value to sap instead of exporting the product as a raw material.

“I wish we could go far enough not to harvest only sap and export it as a raw material; we need to find a way or tech-nology that will help make products from this sap,” said Dr Salekwa.