A letter to President Magufuli: Why agriculture must come first

Your Excellency,

Kindly allow me to provide a word of encouragement in your current efforts and drive to get rid of all the rot that had permeated into our administrative systems. As the Swahili phrase goes, ‘the attitude that this was our grandmothers’ farm had to go.

Of course you will have your detractors, but tough diseases require tough medicine and back in the days when I was in JKT (National Service), we used to have an injection we all dreaded for infections called Crystapen, also known as benzylpenicillin. It hurt like crazy upon injection but cured us all the same.

I am, however, concerned that the right kind of interventions towards alleviating poverty are not being as vigorously pursued as they should be.

Rely on agriculture

I am sure you recognise the fact that most of those who chose you as their President came from rural areas. It is also well known that up to 80 per cent of our people reside in these settings and rely on agriculture as their main source of income.

On Wednesday June,  29, this year, I happened to attend an event organised by Oxfam at the Serena Hotel, highlighting the role of women in agriculture and the different interventions that were being applied as well as concerns in this area. A former winner of one of their awards articulated how she had benefited from the support but also highlighted some of the areas that could be improved. Much as we have made important strides in agriculture, there is still the need to immediately address some key areas with certain facts in mind.

One of the most important statistics we have is that most of our agricultural produce, especially food, is grown by small holder farmers. These currently produce a surplus in the major crops especially corn.

They do this on the whole with limited resources, with low efficiency and yields, and poor prices in general for their efforts due to a market system that is controlled by middlemen, but still manage to produce a surplus.Mr President, this then begs the question: are we doing right by them in the way we have treated them? Is this current status sustainable? And, since you have embarked on a well meant industrialisation drive, are we saying that people should abandon agriculture as a means to earn a living, since it is obvious that it does not pay well for the most part?

I believe by not examining the agricultural value chain and dealing with the glaring shortcomings, we have not done the right thing, and as a result, urban migration has become a current trend.I do not believe anyone in their right mind would leave a gold mine to go and cut trees to make charcoal for a living. Likewise, if agriculture is profitable to the farmer, he or she will not have any reason to leave it at all. I am well aware the current proposed budget aims to deal with some of these issues, but perhaps a slightly different and more coordinated approach is needed. This is a task for a coordinated effort from the Ministry of Finance, which will benefit from increased revenue as it invests in agriculture as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries as well as the Ministry of Industries Trade and Investment.

Issue of markets

If we examine the agricultural value chains as well as the current systems and policies in place, we can easily find weaknesses that can be addresses with minimum cost, but obviously some effort.

I would begin by rethinking the whole issue of markets and the way we trade in our commodities. Middlemen exist in any business chain, but the blatant exploitation of our farmers needs to be addressed immediately.

I am involved in a yet to be started project that is making an effort to use ICT to connect fresh fruit and vegetable farmers to markets in the tourism sector. As part of the initial field survey, a team was sent to Lushoto to observe the market system of a particular vegetable.  The team discovered how the middlemen would fleece farmers by insisting market prices were lower than they actually were and the desperate farmers agreed to the lowered prices because they had no direct access to the markets and were afraid of losing their vegetable crop which was perishable. I wonder if this middleman was even paying taxes as he was brokering a deal for a buyer who may have been a procuring agent for supermarkets or hotels. I see an immediate opportunity for revenue collection in the billions if these issues are addressed and increased incomes to our hard working women and men in the villages.

It may also result in lowered prices for the consumer, if properly regulate. Allow me to say that while agriculture contributes to 25 per cent of GDP, if our farmers were assured of markets and better prices, I believe that it could jump to 40-50 per cent without much effort and would contribute generously to our much needed revenue collection.

At present we are supplying cereals and food to our neighbours, as we are in a better position to produce than they are. Is this not an opportunity that should be formalised and not just left to one or two middlemen who are becoming ultra rich at the expense of our farmers? There have been many efforts to address agriculture in our country but each has often just looked at one aspect only. We have an agricultural bank, but providing money to large businesses to create large farms will not be a lasting solution, and so-called investments are also creating friction between villagers and investors as land is seen as being taken over from them. We need a system that empowers our small holder farmers, many of whom are women, so that they ultimately form groups and become large scale farmers by way of cooperatives, for example.

We need to enforce the use of proper measures and discourage the use of tin cans and unweighed sacks and containers which are being used to cheat our farmers.

We need to improve on our storage and warehouse systems so that farmers can sell their produce when prices are more favourable. Once they improve their productivity and can have secure markets, we will be in a position to take advantage of the improved incomes and outputs for the desired small and large industries that will follow.

Your Excellency, we only need the will and to have you instruct your government to take the right steps. I am confident you will.

God bless Africa. God Bless Tanzania.

Mr Kagaruki is an entrepreneur with experience in marketing and visual design