ACT: Why Production of cloves has plunged in Zanzibar

Pemba. Opposition ACT-Wazalendo is blaming the fall of clove production in Zanzibar on the current payment system.

Under the system, a farmer is paid 80 percent of the world market price.  ACT-Wazalendo says this was a disincentive.

Speaking at their first rally in Jadida Ward, Wete District in Pemba, the party’s vice chairman, Mr Othman Masoud Othman, said it was unfortunate that Zanzibar, which was once the leading grower of cloves is witnessing a drastic fall in production.

Mr Othman who is also the Isle’s First Vice President said Zanzibar can produce up to 20,000 metric tons of cloves, but the government has put its hands on the issue, taking away the incentives from the farmers.

“The production of cloves has dropped because the government wanted to run the business. We in ACT say the production and operation of the business should remain in the hands of farmers,” said Othman.

He said what is required was to create an enabling environment for the clove business.

“Right now, we are being told that farmers get 80 percent of the market price, but in reality, after factoring in all the costs, the farmer only receives 38 percent.

He said it was due to that situation that most farmers have stopped taking care of the clover plantations because they no longer see the benefits.

“We at ACT say that production will increase and the people will see the true value of taking care of it,” said Mr Othman.

Bank of Tanzania (BoT) figures show that the value of goods exports in Zanzibar decreased by 25.9 percent to $64.8 million due to the decline in proceeds from the export of cloves and manufactured goods.

The BoT projects that actual export volumes may have fallen by 16.3 percent during the year to April, 2023 to only 7,000 tonnes from 8,400 tonnes of 8,400 tonnes during the preceding year.

This, along with a 19 percent fall in unit price, saw the amount earned through clove exports dropping by a cool 32.2 percent to only $42.5 million during the year ending April, 2023.

Regarding the spiralling poverty among the youth, the vice chairman said it was mainly due to the fact that most of the youth were not given employable skills to enable them take up jobs in industries such as hospitality.

“Currently, 80 percent of the food supply in the hotels comes from outside Zanzibar, but this can be turned around by empowering young people in agriculture to enable them produce the kind of local content that is required in the hotels,” he said.

He said that as part of their brand promise, they aim to create jobs through locally available resources.

Speaking earlier at the same rally, the party’s central committee member, Ismail Jussa, said his party will continue to hold the Zanzibar government accountable over what he described at the waste of public funds.

Jussa made the statement in an apparent reference of the report of the Controller and Auditor General  (CAG) which showed the loss of a large amount of public money, including the Covid-19 recovery funds, where Zanzibar was given Sh230 billion.

The Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries is one of the institutions that benefited from the money, but in the CAG report, it has been shown that a lot of money went to waste or was misused.

“When you read pages 115 and 117 of the report of the CAG of Tanzania mainland, you will see the misuse; you will see that there is no good intention, and to get rid of these, the time has come to put ACT Wazalendo in power,” said Jussa.