At the opening of the Green Revolution forum (AGRF-2012) in Arusha recently, the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Ms Jane Karuku, stated that Tanzania's recent agricultural growth represents a case study of what is possible. Tanzania is posed to become middle income country by 2025 and be the basket food for the East and Central African region. Our reporter sheds light on Agriculture development in Tanzania;

According to Jane Karuku, the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Tanzania's recent agricultural growth represents a case study of what is possible. For example, in the Kilombero district of Morogoro, the yields for maize have recently increased for some small holder farmers from 1.5 to 4.5 tons per hectare; the yields for rice have increased from 2.5 to 6.5 tons per hectare. The goal of the government is to transform Tanzania into a middle income country by 2025, fuelled, in a significant part, by growth in its agricultural sector.

It was from this significant development that qualified Tanzania to host the forum. From Sept 26 to 28, Arusha city became the busiest city ever. The Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2012), built on recent momentum to tackle global food security. The forum was attended by African heads of state, ministers, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, farmers and other stakeholders.

The forum whose theme was “scaling up investment and innovation for sustainable agricultural growth and food security”, set the stage for African ownership in the next phase of scaling agricultural development solutions and steering investment to build a sustainable, food secure future.

At the opening of the forum, President Kikwete who was the guest of honour, said agriculture has always been given priority since independence in 1961. He said that the most recent initiative to develop agriculture in the country is the 2006 Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP).

“This is 14-year programme aimed at transforming Tanzania’s agriculture through overcoming obstacles to transformation and growth of the agriculture sector.

However, he said that in the course of implementing the programme, it was realized that the programme was overly dependent on government financing and support from donors. Unfortunately, the government’s financial capacity was very limited and donors financing was not sufficient enough to meet all the needs of the sector.

“Donor support to agriculture in Africa has declined from 18 billion dollars twenty years ago, to 3 billion dollars three years ago before increasing to the current level of 6 billion dollars” he said.

However, the president hailed Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for its support on agriculture sector particularly in four inter-linked programs namely programme for Africa’s seed systems, (PASS), Soil Health Program, Market Access program and policy program.

He said in 2011, AGRA supported the Ministry of Agriculture to develop the breadbasket strategy. The implementations of the programs are continuing to bear fruits.

Citing an example, the president said, AGRA program have helped to reduce distance farmers travel to access agricultural input from average of 30 kilometers to 16 kilometers in the 39 districts where the agro dealer development is being implemented.

AGRA’s support has also helped to reduce post harvest losses from 30 percent to 15 percent in Kilombero district.

“These are no small achievements. We want to reassure those who are supporting AGRA that your money is not wasted. It is making a different in the lives of Tanzania” said the President.

 The president requested donors to increase their support adding that on its part, it will increase the involvement of the private sector to address financial, technical, and technological challenges facing agriculture.

“In 2008 my government in collaboration with the private sector decided to undertake a joint study of the situation of agriculture in the country and agree on what we can do. The study concluded that agriculture needed to be given top priority by everybody. The government, farmers, private sector and development partners, we all agree that agriculture should come first and this is what gave birth to the catch-phrase or motto of kilimo kwanza meaning agriculture first” he said.

He said the government will continue with its facilitation role and enabling role. This includes putting in place sound policy and regulatory environment, investing in research and development, providing extension services and building relevant institutions.

For his part, the Chairman of the African Green Revolution Alliance (AGRA) Dr. Kofi Annan commended Tanzania for its commitment and determination to transform agriculture sector saying long term solutions to food and nutrition security can be realized.

He said that agricultural investments must rise t at least 10 percent levels of the national budget pledged under the 2003 Maputo declaration. The right policies are also needed to increase public and private investments.

Commenting on supporting small scale farmers, Annan said that across the board, there must be an unwavering focus on improving the productivity and profitability of small holder farmers-most of whom are women.

He said they can be supported by creating opportunities to enable them to move from subsistence farming to running their firms as business, and encouraging community cooperation to empower individual farmers.

He also pointed out that there is a need to ensure they are well organized and have access to seeds, fertilizers, knowledge and markets so they can play their full role in Africa’s agricultural transformation and embrace new technologies to give younger generation’s greater opportunity to play a large role in the agricultural revolution.

However, he said larger farms have also a critical role to play, particularly in testing and disseminating new technologies and providing opportunities for aggregating small holder production for market.

 “We cannot increase food production in the speed needed without empowering small-scale producers, so it is high time for leaders to take actions and increased funding from donors,” he said.

Linking food security and health issues, Melinda Gates, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Bill& Melinda Gates, called on African governments to take practical actions to improve food security saying that would solve some health issues resulting from hunger and malnutrition.

Melinda Gates, who had an opportunity to visit Meru farms in Mbuguni ward, also said that for a viable productivity, there is a need to empower women as well because they are the ones who work hard and produces more at family level.
Melinda and Anna tour of the farms aimed at learning how smallholder farmers in the country are achieving in self-driven agricultural efforts and how their efforts can be transformed and guarantee food security on the African continent.
“When you look at family level, majority of producers are women. So, we need to respond to what women farmer’s needs” she said.
Agriculture, food security and cooperatives minister, Eng. Christopher Chiza said that given the importance of agriculture, which has the potential to alleviate poverty among poor people and enhance economic development, Tanzania has embarked on several programs including policy environment that aimed at making the country food self-sufficient.

“Policy environment is a key issue, Tanzania is committed to making this a reality. We will continue addressing challenges so as to unlock the potentials in agriculture” he said.

Minister Chiza urged African leaders, and other stakeholders to make sure they turn experiences and knowledge gained during the forum into actions adding that the private sector has a key role to play in strengthening food and agricultural support systems.

“That’s why in recent years,” he said, “the government of Tanzania has been committed to working with the sector through public–private partnership to enhance agriculture in the country. My appeal to you all is to turn this into actions and in partnerships to ensure that small farmers particularly women benefit from these interventions in a more profitable and sustainable manner” he said.

He adds: let us not forget that we all should strive to make farming a business that would attract youth to agriculture and increase employment. Without new technologies, better seeds and other farm inputs, it will be difficult to improve agriculture and realize a food secure nation”.

Tanzania is endowed with huge arable land area estimated at 44 million ha. However, currently, only 10.1 million ha or 23 percent is cultivated.
The total potential irrigable area is estimated at 29.4 million hectares with different suitability levels with 2.3 million ha of high irrigation development potential, 4.8 million ha of medium potential and 22.3 million ha of low development potential.

By our reporter
Ends.

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