Hope as cassava farmers now tap Chinese market Cassava

 Handeni. NMB Bank Plc has extended a Sh3 billion loan to cassava farmers in Handeni, Tanga Region, in a deliberate move to boost their production capacity in order to meet rising demand for their products in the lucrative Chinese market.

The money will be spent on issues pertaining to raising productivity, enhancing farmers’ participation in the agri-business supply chains as well as institutional realignments in the agricultural sector, according to the chairperson of the Tanzania Cassava Producers and Processors Association (Tacappa), Ms Mwantumu Mahiza.

The loan will partly be spent on training farmers on how to raise their productivity as well as on the provision of high quality seeds to farmers.

Ms Mahiza, a former Region-al Commissioner, is optimistic that an ordinary cassava farmer in Handeni can earn from Sh2 million to Sh4 million per season provided that they are provided with the right seeds and technical knowledge to help them raise productivity.

Currently, she said, the crop has already turned many into commercial farmers, saying most of the cassava from Handeni was being transported to Dar es Salaam for raw consumption.

The Sh3 billion NMB loan has a 50 percent guarantee of the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB).

Presenting a dummy cheque to signify official issuance of the loan to Handeni District Commissioner Godwin Gond-we, NMB Bank’s chief of retail banking Filbert Mponzi, said the move would raise the pro-file of Tanzania’s cassava production.

“The Sh3 billion loan disbursed to cassava growers at Mkata, Handeni District is part of our wider plan to lend over Sh40 billion to small scale farmers this year.

“This support will enhance food security, local production, job creation and economic diversification,” said Mr Mponzi.

A total of 421 farmers, across 43 groups, will benefit from the loan.

Currently, over 600 Small and Medium Scale farmers’ have opened accounts at NMB.

Last year, cassava farmers in Handeni secured a market for their produce in China where the annual demand stands at 20 million tonnes.

This followed an agreement reached by the regional, district leaders and stakeholders with officials of the Tanzania Agricultural Export Processing Zone (TAEPZ).

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 a period of next five years.

He said China provides a large market for cassava, mainly for industrial use and that the country requires about 20 million tonnes of dry cassava a year.