Chinese investors venture into Cassava trade in Tanga
What you need to know:
Tanzania is one of the leading countries in Africa in the production of cassava. However, production of the drought-resistant food crop is well below its potential yield
Handeni. Cassava farmers in Handeni District, Tanga Region have finally secured a market for their produce in China where the annual demand stands at 20 million tonnes.
This follows an agreement reached by the regional, district leaders and stakeholders with officials of the Tanzania Agricultural Export Processing Zone (TAEPZ) company.
An unnamed Chinese-owned company, said it wanted a consignment of at least two million tonnes of dry cassava a year, according to its director, Mr Dior Feg.
He assured the small scale farmers in Handeni and neighbouring districts that his firm would purchase their cassava in the next five years.
“Currently, we have Sh1 billion for the purpose,” he said, adding that the company would support commercial cultivation of the crop in Tanzania by assisting the farmers to access the required inputs.
He said China provided a large market for cassava, mainly for industrial use, and that it required about 20 million tonnes of dry cassava a year.
Speaking during the meeting, Tanga Regional Commissioner Martin Shigela cautioned that the Chinese market for cassava would be meaningless if the farmers produce cassava of poor quality.
He warned the buyers that there should not be any bureaucracy in buying of the produce, calling for prompt payment.
Ms Mwatumu Mahiza, the chairperson of the cassava growers association in the country, implored on the financial institutions to extend credit to the farmers.
She played down a notion that investment in cassava, a drought resistant crop, was not economical compared to other cash and food crops.
Ms Mahiza, a former regional commissioner, noted that an ordinary cassava farmer in Handeni can earn from Sh2 million to Sh4 million provided that he or she used good farming methods.
She added commercial cultivation of cassava was top on the Tanga regional priorities in agricultural sector development because of the conducive soil, among others.
Cassava is one of the major subsistence crop in Tanzania, sometimes considered ‘a famine reserve’ when staple cereals fail.
Although most of the cassava production in Tanzania is for human consumption, a substantial amount is used for animal feed and alcohol brewing.
Annual production was estimated at 5.4 million tonnes in 2012 when the country was ranked the 12th largest cassava producer in the world and the sixth largest in Africa.
