Stop smuggling agricultural produce, Samia tells farmers

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has warned Tanzanian farmers against smuggling agricultural produce, saying the move undermines the country’s revenue collection capabilities required for further improving productivity.

President Hassan issued the warning on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, during the launch of a Silo Complex and Modern Warehouses in Kanondo Village, Sumbawanga District, Rukwa Region.

The Head of State, who is touring the region to inspect the implementation of development projects, said during a live broadcast that farmers have been selling cereals to unscrupulous traders who smuggle the produce outside the country, denying the government appropriate benefits.

The government’s costs would be recovered through exports. The President said Zambia was shipping 600,000 metric tonnes purchased from Tanzania, including the Rukwa Region.
“The government investment will be recovered after the export of the produce and payment has been made to farmers. Allowing food smuggling through informal routes and trucks after paying nothing to the government denies the country its prerequisite revenue,” she said.

“Failure to collect revenues deprives the government’s ability to provide subsidised fertilisers, care to extension officers, building agriculture infrastructure, and the provision of many other services,” she insisted.

She instructed regional and district commissioners to ensure no food products leave the country without appropriate permits from the Ministry of Agriculture. She insisted that all traders exporting the produce should look for legal documents from authorities.
Furthermore, the Head of State said the government will ensure that traders purchase their consignments from the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) instead of directly buying from farmers.
She said when traders are allowed to procure the produce directly from farmers, then producers are exploited through the provision of low prices for a kilo of cereals compared to what is offered by the government.
According to her, trading agricultural produce formally enables the government to recover funds invested through the distribution of subsidised fertilisers, strengthened irrigation infrastructure, and significant improvements in extension services.

“Launched silos and warehouses will rescue and preserve farmers’ investments. In the past, we used to witness staggering post-harvest losses due to a lack of meaningful storage facilities,” she said.

“Constructed storage infrastructures will enable the government to buy produce from farmers and quickly preserve the crops. We are financially, administratively, and technologically empowering NFRA to carry out its functions smoothly,” added President Hassan.

Regarding the price outcry, the Head of State said maize per kilo has been increased to Sh600 for the produce purchased in rural areas and Sh650 for consignments procured in urban areas.
Speaking during the event, Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said the storage facility with the 60-tonne capacity was currently full of cereals, noting that the same would be the first to be transported to Zambia.
He said NFRA was expected to increase the number of weighing scales to accelerate the maize procurement process due to the maize production upsurge.
“We are working in line with your directives (President Hassan) to ensure maize is traded to Zambia and that the country remains at any time with 350,000 metric tonnes of the cereals,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Head of State launched the Sh6.08 billion regional Vocational Education and Training Authority (Veta) and laid the foundation stone for the construction of Sumbawanga Airport, expected to have a 30,000-person annual passenger capacity.