EDITORIAL: What happened to Agriculture being the ‘backbone of the Economy’?

Once upon a time in the not-too-distant past, agriculture was hailed as ‘the backbone of the Tanzanian Economy.’In his presentation at the ‘Convocation &General Meeting of the Open University of Tanzania on October 14, 2004, the-then minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Charles Ndelianaruwa Keenja stated that “Agriculture was the lead sector in the Tanzanian economy – and would continue to occupy that position for several decades to come…”

Noting that agriculture contributed 50 per cent to Tanzania’s GDP, 60 per cent of export earnings and 95-97 per cent of the domestic food consumption, Mr Keenja stated that, “due to its great contribution to the economy, agriculture is described as the backbone – and the lead sector – of the economy …”

From economic backbone to second fiddler

Alas, much has changed since then. Today, agriculture’s GDP contribution is a lowly 25-27per cent – and 67 per cent employment…

What happened to the ‘backbone of the Economy’, dropping in importance in such a short period of time, pray?

Well, the community of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Tanzania seems to have an answer to that – and, better still:valid proposals on how best to surmount the challenges that ail Tanzanian agriculture. The CSOs have identified the major challenges to agricultural progression in terms of meaningful, sustainable development on the ground, literally speaking! One challenge is low disbursement of budgeted funds.

Underfunding severely limits agro-productivity

Underfunding, they say, creates challenges that discourage Tanzanians – especially the youth and women – from engaging in farming, and severely limit agro-productivity.

To transform agriculture for the better, the government must keep increasing the agricultural budget – and also release budgeted funds in full and on time as needed.

Another major challenge is lack of, or poor, irrigation farming infrastructure. This leaves Tanzanians with no option but to depend on rain-fed agriculture at a time when climate change is wreaking havoc on rain patterns.

So, the CSOs say, the government should expand and otherwise support irrigation farming every which way.

Yet another challenge isinsufficient utilization of funding opportunities from the likes of the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund that would enable small-scale farmers to implementclimate changeadaptation strategies.

The CSOs also doubt the efficacy of compulsory membership of cooperatives for farmers, recommending that membership should be voluntary. Instead, the government should encourage and support market linkages.

The CSOs grouping comprises tried and tested development partners, including the likes of ActionAid; Agricultural Non-State Actors Forum; Forum on Climate Change; OxFam; Policy Forum, and the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme– listed here strictly in alphabetical order. TheCSOs are true and trusted partners-in-development who are out to boost Tanzanian agriculture – and, by extension, economic growth – always doing so in the best interests of the country and its people. We urge the relevant authorities to heed the CSOs’ recommendations.