Government: These are areas to invest in agriculture

Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday provided a picture of the areas it needs investment in the agriculture sector, which plays a key role in the economy.

While promising insurance for farmers who use fertilisers during the next year, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Hussein Bashe, called on investors to focus on the production of edible oil and wheat, which are currently dominated by imports.

Mr Bashe, at a meeting with stakeholders yesterday, outlined the government’s plans to reduce wheat imports from 90 percent to 50 percent and reduce the imports of edible oil from 60 percent to 30 percent by 2030.

“We import 100,000 metric tonnes of wheat with an import bill of nearly Sh512 billion; our goal is to spur investment and boost product to reach one million metric tonnes,” he said.

“Current production of edible oil (sunflower) is at 300,000 metric tonnes, and target production by 2030 is three million metric tonnes, which is expected from partnerships and scaling up production,” he said.

Minister Bashe expressed a long-term perspective, saying that sugar production might not be a lucrative undertaking in the next 10 to 20 years. He reasoned that the current sugar production levels adequately meet local demand, thus advising investors to explore other promising ventures.

According to the minister, the government plans to provide insurance to all farmers who use fertiliser in their farming activities.

While advising the farmers to continue using the subsidised fertiliser marked with the ’subsidy’ label and QR codes, the minister revealed the government’s plan to initiate a mechanisation subsidy to support farmers’ production.

“In this, the government will collaborate with the private sector,” he said.

The minister was today gracing a meeting with agriculture stakeholders to discuss opportunities in the sector.

“A significant percentage of our farmers cultivate land of around 2.5 acres. Only 28 percent are farming beyond 50 acres. To facilitate growth, we must assist these 2.5-acre farmers. We want to promote commercial farming,” said Bashe.

Data from the ministry shows that there are 44 million hectares of land suitable for farming in Tanzania, with only 15 million hectares in use.

The Minister of Planning, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, highlighted the government’s plans for the commercialization of the agriculture sector by focusing on the value addition of agricultural produce.

“We want all our partners and private sector stakeholders to understand that the language we are speaking about in agriculture is value addition,” he said.

However, Prof Mkumbo recognised that there are still some regulatory issues to be addressed so that the sector can go commercial, including the reduction of bureaucracy and red tape.

Finance Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba said it’s time for the local Tanzanians to take charge of the economy by directly engaging in production activities.

This he said, can be one of the ways to create big taxpayers who will contribute to the nation’s development projects.