Tuesday 14 September, 2010
SUPPORTING THE PROMOTERS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION
kilimokwanza@guardian.co.tz
Kagera: The private sector takes irrigation seriously
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
EDITORIAL
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inside
‘Why attracting agriculture investors to Tanzania is tough’ One common saying in Tanzania is that which talks about agriculture being the back bone of the country’s economy. Eighty per cent of the country’s population depends entirely on agriculture and since independence, a number of policies and programmes have been formulated in an effort to develop the sector.
With abundant land, must we spend Tsh270bn to get 200 acres?
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N a week when Tanzania dropped 13 places in this year’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) rankings, it was not interesting to learn that public officials are finalizing efforts to re-float a tender to reclaim large portion of oceanfront territory in Dar es Salaam.” A tender is about to be re-floated in search of a credible investor to undertake the so called ‘massive land reclamation project.’ The reason given is that the Coastal Development Company Ltd (CDL) had failed to fulfill the contract for the past nine years. CDL is operated by investors from Holland, South Africa and Tanzania. They say that God made the earth but the Dutch made Holland. While land shortage was a major issue in the Netherlands, is it justifiable in the local context? For the record, Tanzania has about one million square kilometres for a mere 40 million people. The Tanzania Investment Centre also recently announced that it has secured some 200,000 hectares of land for investment in the land bank. This land was acquired at almost zero cost and without extensive and expensive tendering processes that sap the limited tax revenues available for development. The proposed $180m dollars (TSH 270bn) Salama waterfront project will cover what is currently perhaps the smelliest and most polluted stretch of beach in the country. While the proposed site is prime beach property, it is by no means pristine. It will therefore be interesting to see how developers deal with the Msimbazi river and the city’s main sewerage lines whose effluence flows directly into the ocean along the Selander Bridge and the Ocean Road area. Perhaps someone somewhere thinks that our economic woes stem from an acute shortage of skyscrapers within the already overcrowded city limits? If this be the case then we can only speculate on the effects of proposed reclamation on traffic along the already congested Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Ocean roads. More pertinent however, is this the kind of project what majority of Tanzanians need or even want? What does the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) have to say about the proposed encroachment on land that although polluted, is undoubtedly used as feeding and breeding land by fish and other marine life? Shouldn’t we instead increase efforts into investment into the dilapidated Tanga port for example? This will not only serve a majority of Tanzanians and open up the region for increased investment, but will also solve the problem of inefficiency of the country’s ports which the World Economic Forum report cites as a major bottleneck in doing business in the country. Or perhaps the improvement of our ports is not a very important matter because without a port, landlocked Rwanda which entered the GCI for the first time this year has ranked 33 places above Tanzania. Our competitiveness has also dropped to third in East Africa, behind Rwanda and Kenya. This drop is worrying in a period where the country is shuttling head first towards East African integration and a common market where EAC countries are in competition for direct foreign investment. Investment competitiveness is one of the key factors determining who will reap major gains in the common market. Corruption, access to financing and inadequate supply of infrastructure top the list of most problematic factors for doing business in the Tanzania. The GCI report placed Tanzania 128th overall in the basic requirement of infrastructure due to inadequate road network, inefficiency at ports, unreliable electricity supply and telephone lines.
Artwork & Design: KN Mayunga
Shortage of adequate beach land does not feature at all in the list and we doubt that it falls under inadequate infrastructure. With this in mind, perhaps a better option is that we do something to charge up our flailing electricity supply and telecommunication network which are also key factors affecting the country’s competitiveness. Moreover while there is a lot of talk about building satellite towns and cities around Dar es salaam and other cities, aren’t we sending out mixed messages by encouraging increased congestion around the city limits? If success of the Salama project hinges on proximity to the city centre then perhaps the disused former Tanganyika Packers lot at Kawe in Dar es Salaam offers a far better, cheaper and more realistic option for such an investment. This stretch of prime land can easily accomodate the envisioned hotel, offices, swimming pool, shopping malls, sports facilities and even beachfront developments along the Kawe beach. It can easily be developed at less cost and without causing unnecessary additional strain on city infrastructure. Such a project may also open up the rest of the city (Mbezi, Tegeta, Kawe, Mikocheni, Msasani and even the TPDF golf course) for investment and the fringe benefits of development. Financing may not a problem in this case because to quickly attract willing takers the TIC may yet have to put up half of the cost (TSH 135bn) and goodwill into the land reclamation project. If this be the case, how about putting that amount into improving the road network in the country? Or perhaps upgrading the quality of our education system which the GCI ranked 136th overall on enrolment in secondary school and higher education? Or perhaps better still, by seriously investing in agriculture, Kilimo Kwanza to be precise, perhaps the country can address the fourth pillar of investment competitiveness, that of poor public health and inadequately educated workforce. The challenges of crime and theft, and corruption whose main source is poverty can also be addressed through Kilimo Kwanza which is the best and most sustainable way to get Tanzanians out of unacceptable, abject poverty. Uncoordinated investment and development policies where the mouth says one thing while the right hand does something different that the left does not fully comprehend no longer have a place in this country. It is time that we put our focus squarely in addressing the real issues facing the country. Ironically the issues that caused the drop in our global investment competitiveness are also the same issues that ordinary Tanzanians grapple with in their daily lives – a neglected health and education system, poor infrastructure, electricity, crime, corruption. We do not want to argue the investment bottlenecks of the Salama project or reasons why the project has not taken off besides having allegedly been on the drawing boards since 1990’s. What we are saying is that there is a lot of land in this country, and the amount required to reclaim a handful of acres can be better invested, and profitably at that, in the ‘free’ land that TIC is accumulating its land bank.
Wallace Mauggo Editor
Assessing Kilimo Kwanza 1yr later
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Farmers body for improved seeds
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When launching the Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First) initiative in August 2009, President Jakaya Kikwete said although there may be challenges in achieving the set goals towards realizing the green revolution in the country, he was adamant that nothing was impossible under the sun.
We as TFA are ready to help but that is if the government is willing to support us. Currently, the country is importing seeds from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe but what if these countries have problems?
Tarime: Ignorance costing farmers their cows' lives
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Ignorance of some pastoralists in Nyaichoka village, Serengeti District, Mara region is costing them lives of their livestock.An average of seven cows are dying every week due to thirst.This is a result of drought caused by inadequate rainfall which has been forcing herdsmen to trek for about 20 to 30 km...
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To have your organisation promoted in Kilimo Kwanza, Call: 0787 571308, 0655 571308 0754 571308
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
POLICY
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‘Why attracting agriculture investors to Tanzania is tough’
O By Staff Writer
ne common saying in Tanzania is that which talks about agriculture being the back bone of the country’s economy. Eighty per cent of the country’s population depends entirely on agriculture and since independence, a number of policies and programmes have been formulated in an effort to develop the sector. But despite all the efforts, the sector never performed well, the reason the government adopted Kilimo Kwanza last year, prioritisng agriculture towards a Green revolution in Tanzania. One of the suggested measures in developing the sector today is mobilizing adequate private and public investment in the sector. And the Kilimo Kwanza strategy is a public-private partnership. Tanzania has 44 million hectares of arable land but only 23 per cent of this is used for agriculture. Private sector involvement in agriculture remains weak due to poor investment climate and business environment. Lack of long term finance at affordable interest rates is another reason. According to a current Bank of Tanzania report, loans to the agricultural sector amounted to only 10.4 per cent of the total loans to the private sector. The loans
are available at commercial rates ranging between 18 and 20 per cent and most of them are short term facilities for buying and selling. Only 0.8 per cent of total lending went to agricultural production. In his paper presentation at the engineers meeting on Kilimo kwanza last week, the Executive Director of Tanzania Investment centre (TIC), Eng. Emmanuel ole Naiko said one major factor that makes agricultural financing difficult is the use of land as collateral. “This is because most of the land in the country is un-surveyed and unregistered,” said Ole Naiko. According to him, only 1 to 2 per cent of land in Sub- Saharan Africa is officially registered. Ole Naiko said use of land as collateral should be accompanied by education because such use should not be taken lightly as it may lead to land dispossession. The long term solution to this, Ole Naiko says, is provision of long term loans to farmers. Another solution is putting in place microfinance institutions like Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) designed to finance financial products and instruments tailored to specific needs of rural farmers. Ole Naiko said for the country to realize a green revolution through Kilimo Kwanza, deliberate measures should be taken to make it an agricultural led economy. “Any effort at economic growth that does not include the agricultural sector will not succeed,” Ole Naiko said. According to him, Tanzania’s economy
cannot reach the growth rate of eight to ten per cent per year, the growth rate needed to have a long lasting impact on poverty, without significant investment and improvement in agriculture. He said efforts should be put together to realize Kilimo Kwanza in modernizing the agriculture by setting aside land required for commercial agriculture development in every one of the regions in the country. Ole Naiko commended the regions that have implemented the President’s directive of setting aside land for commercial agriculture and other investment purposes. “It’s anticipated that the rest of other regions will promptly implement the President’s directive,” said Ole Naiko. He said competition to attract investments was tough and real and that Tanzania must do what other countries are doing to achieve this. He gave an example of how a small country like Malawi is able to feed part of SADC and COMESA countries. Tanzania could do the same if it created a conducive environment for investment in the sector. At a meeting with Saudi investors in Addis Ababa in April this year, countries like Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia welcomed Saudis to invest in agriculture in their countries after they expressed interest to do so. These countries had set aside land for commercial agriculture. Ole Naiko says Tanzanians at the meeting also promised enough land for
TIC chief Ole Naiko agricultural investment but were worried deep inside because they knew there wasn’t enough land set aside for the purposes as directed by the Land Act No.4 of 1999. “Currently there is only 200,000
hectares of land belonging to prisons and SUMA JKT who have asked TIC to market this land for foreign and local investors.” This land has already been inspected by Saudi prospective investors who were recently in the country. Tanzania is in the process of creating a Land Data Bank available for investors to use. Ole Naiko clarified on the misleading allegations that individuals or villages will be surrendering their land to TIC through the land bank saying; “TIC will not take away your land but rather help you get suitable partners like we are doing now with SUMA JKT and Prisons.” He said it is only after establishment of the Land Data Bank that the country can attract targeted investors from the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Europe and the US. Attracting investment to the agricultural sector is however facing one major challenge due to the recent global financial crisis. The global Foreign Direct Inflows according to the 2010 World Investment Report declined from USD 2.2 trillion in 2007 to USD 1.1 Trillion in 2009. This decline is expected to reverse in 2010 and start picking up in 2012 to reach the levels of 2008 at USD 1.8 Trillion. The Foreign Direct Investment coming to Africa is still very marginal. It fell to USD 59 billion in 2009 from USD 72 billion in 2007. The FDI that has been going to agriculture globally has been only between USD 1
and 3billion per annum. The FDI coming to Africa goes to oil rich countries first and then to larger economies like South Africa and Egypt. Ole Naiko said because of this, the FDI inflow to countries like Tanzania which was about USD 600 million in 2009 is almost negligible. Pointing out opportunities that Tanzania could use to attract investment in agriculture, Ole Naiko said he did not see why Tanzania should not use its vast water resources plus its large tracks of idle fertile land to attract investment in the almost unused irrigation opportunities. “There is no reason why the country should not develop irrigation as an investment opportunity by itself,” he said. Despite being second in Africa after DRC for large volume of water resources with all the rivers, lakes and numerous basins and plains, Tanzania is only able to irrigate one per cent of its potential irrigable land of 29.4 million hectares. For the country’s agriculture to have a chance in a globalizing world, Ole Naiko says we need skills and change of attitude. He said Tanzanians can not compete by just bragging about having a lot of arable land producing raw commodities. He says there must be initiatives to undertake value addition on agricultural produces alongside with commercial farmers augmented with small farmers. It’s not the amount of land that the country has that matters but how that land is managed.
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
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COVER STORY
The General Manager of Kagera Sugar, Ashwin Rana explains to the Guardian’s Kilimo Kwanza Angel Navuri how a Green Revolution is being realised using modern irrigation methods
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he country’s vision of a Green Revolution through its Kilimo Kwanza initiative is fast becoming a reality in some places. The Kagera Sugar Limited company in Kagera region is one good example. The Guardian’s reporters recently visited the huge agro-industrial complex in the north-western part of Tanzania, and were impressed by the massive scale on which agricultural development is taking place in this remote region. Clearly, this is one the most successful agricultural projects on a commercial scale witnessed in Tanzania. The company has made huge investments in agriculture and irrigation, a project that is now the pride of Tanzania. Investment in a state of the art centre pivot irrigation system has enabled the company to produce more high quality sugar. The system that covers all sugar plantations has enabled the factory to increase its total yield per hectare from 50 tonnes per hectare to an average of 102 tonnes per hectare. The harvesting of cane has also increased from an initial 200,000 tonnes in the 2004/2005 season to 435,000 tonnes by 2008/2009. The factory now produces over 50,000 tonnes of sugar per year. Current figures show that out of the estimated 10 million hectares in Tanzania, less than 2 million hectares are under irrigation. By taking advantage of its proximity to the Kagera River and investing in irrigation, the Kagera Sugar factory is avoiding sugar cultivation that is dependent on rainfall which is sometimes unreliable. Located around Lake Victoria, Kagera region is characterized by fertile land and receives rainfall throughout the year, thus making it favourable for agriculture. However, sugar cane cultivation is seasonal, therefore forcing the factory to find new ways of cultivating to meet local and export demands. Learning from the 2005 drought that severely affected the agricultural sector in the country, the company underwent massive rehabilitation which involved significant additional investments to rehabilitate the factory by increasing area under cultivation and installation of the state of art center pivot irrigation equipment covering hectares of land. Land development Already, 10,000 hectares of land is covered by a green blanket of sugar cane, and we witnessed a huge fleet of modern agricultural machinery clearing land at a rapid pace for further expansion of the plantations. Bulldozers initially clear the bush and flatten the myriad ant hills, before computerised land plane machines laser level the ground, followed by ploughing and ridging on a scale never before seen in East Africa. Over 1500 hectares of newly established cane is added to the estate every year. The new and latest technology is employed to make the most economical use of the land, facilitating efficient irrigation and drainage for maximum production. This has been achieved through high definition, infra-red Lidar aerial surveying, followed by GPS and Laser technology used to prepare and level the land, install drainage and irrigation canals. Centre-Pivot Irrigation Systems Irrigation Manager Moruo Laizer says the modern irrigation system is manageable, doesn’t lose water and in case of break
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
Kagera sugar grow the ultra modern w
down, it doesn’t need international experts to come and repair it but local people can handle it as long as they are involved during installation. Laizer said Kagera has the largest centre-pivot installation in sub-Saharan Africa, covering 4000 hectares of sugar cane. The system comprises of pump stations on the Kagera river which feed a network of massive underground pipes that cover the sugar cane fields. Over 100 km of underground piping has been installed on the estate ensuring water availability at the flick of a switch. These in turn feed the automated centre pivots that irrigate the sugar cane 24 hours per day throughout the season, ensuring optimum growing conditions and high yields. The modern state of the art system pumps water from the Kagera River, transforming the area into a luscious green belt producing over 120 tonnes of sugarcane per hectare. The company is already expanding the irrigation infrastructure by installing further 42 pivots during this season to cover a further 3500 hectares of land at a cost of 20bn/-. This will be followed by a further 25bn/- investment next year to encompass the remaining area under cane.
Sugar Processing Cane is crushed in the factory at the rate of 120 tonnes per hour, 24 hours per day for 9 months of the year. The process is extremely environmentally friendly with all by-products utilised to ensure no waste products remain. After extraction of the juice from cane, the fibre is used as fuel in high pressure boilers to produce steam to run the turbo-alternator sets, hence generating 3.4 mega watts of electricity for factory use. The company also shares this power with the immediate community around the factory. Although this power does not fully meet the power demand, it has reduced de-
pendency on the national grid electricity. The mud removed from juice processing is returned to the field, replacing the nutrients taken from the soil and all excess water from the plants is pumped back to the fields as irrigation water. The final product, sugar, meets the Tanzania Bureau of Standards exacting standards and is distributed to consumers throughout north-western Tanzania and into neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The factory recently received an award of recognition by East African Community (EAC) countries as one of the main supplier of sugar in the East African market. Kagera sugar also targets Congo and Southern Sudan as its next export markets. The increase in EAC member states and benefits of the EAC common market are expected to give Kagera Sugar a strategic entry advantage within the region. Presently the company exports up to 25% of its produce and sells the remainder within the country. Domestic demand is estimated at 420,000 metric tonnes per annum, mostly within the Lake Zone which is Tanzanian's largest market segment. Cane harvesting and transport Everyday, 3000 tons of sugar cane is harvested and transported with a huge fleet of tractors and trailers from the field to the factory. This operation is carried out 24 hours per day to ensure that cane is always delivered fresh before any deterioration can take place. The company has invested 3bn/in cane transportation in this year alone to handle the ever-increasing tonnage of cane production. The company has a permanent staff force of 2000 workers with a further 2000 unskilled labour utilized at cultivating and harvest time. This generates income within the community. During cultivation the
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
COVER STORY
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wn way company builds camps to accommodate the unskilled labour. The company also contributes to social responsibility by building schools, health centres and providing expertise and medicine, roads and investing in residential housing.
Outgrower Development We visited the farms of outgrowers at Kagera Sugar and the chairman of the Kagera Sugarcane Outgrowers Association, Mr Annas Swaibu told us how the develop-
ment of cane outgrower farms has progressed rapidly due to the extension support given to the outgrowers by Kagera Sugar Limited. The support, he said has been in the form of use of tractors and ploughs, supply of seed cane, technical advice and guarantees for loans taken by outgrowers. This has had a positive effect in the local communities, generating wealth, and alleviating poverty. Challenges The biggest challenge that the company faces is failure by local producers to meet domestic market demand. This gives the government authority to import sugar resulting in price fluctuations. For example in 2009/2010 over USD 60million was spent on sugar importation to offset the local production deficits. Other challenges include rehabilitating factory capacity and expanding the total area under plantation. Building new capacity and equipment on limited budgets also poses a big challenge. Furthermore the expectation of increased plantation areas under irrigation means that cane output will soon exceed the factory's crushing capacity. The company now desires to de-bottleneck the factory by investing in equipment that will increase cane output to 200 tonnes per hectare or 1million tones of cane annually One of the main constraints of industrial development in Tanzania is shortage of financial resources and trained personnel. Large investors require sound financial services to maximize production and profit. The company therefore calls on the government to increase support and subsidy on agricultural inputs. There is a need to increase higher learning institutions with the aim of increasing experts in the sector. Kagera sugar appreciates the government's focus on agriculture as the key sector in the country’s economic development through Kilimo Kwanza. The company believes that these efforts will increase both individual and national income and contribute towards improving the quality of life for everyone. Future Developments The Kagera Sugar project is already one of the most successful agricultural projects in the country. The General Manager, Mr Ashwin Rana, says more than 180bn/- has been invested in the project since privatization mainly in agricultural and irrigation infrastructure as well as in the factory rehabili-
tation and expansion. Rana says in line with the Kilimo Kwanza strategy, Kagera Sugar has ensured that only the best agricultural practices and procedures are implemented. “The use of modern technology such as infra-red aerial surveying, laser leveling and state of the art centre pivot irrigation systems ensures that the most efficient use is made of our land and water resources and that optimum yields are achieved,� he says.
In the current year the investment of 20 billion shillings in additional irrigation infrastructure will cover the entire eastern part of the estate, an additional area of approximately 3500 hectares. This will be completed by June of next year, after which the next investment of a further 25 billion in irrigation infrastructure will result in a total of over 12,000 hectares under fully irrigated cane. In parallel with this, the company is investing in a further 37 billion shillings to
expand the crushing capacity of the factory, to handle all the additional cane. The net result will be that by 2012 Kagera Sugar Limited will have the ability to grow and to process 1 million tonnes of cane to produce 1,000,000 tonnes of sugar annually. In short, we can confirm with confidence that Kagera Sugar Limited is contributing significantly to the success of the Kilimo Kwanza green revolution and will continue to do so for many years to come.
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
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Tuesday 14 September, 2010
ASSESSMENT
Assessing Kilimo Kwanza 1yr later
W By staff writers
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President Kikwete launching Kilimo Kwanza, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, Agriculture Minister Stephen Wasira, TNBC’s Dunstan Mrutu
tial for increased production and productivity. “All the preparations for the initiatives have already been put in place and the implementation is scheduled to start in October 2010,” he said. Kilimo Kwanza’s second pillar partly talks about allocating not less that 10 per cent of the national budget to agriculture in 2010/2011. The budget allocation this financial year increased to 8.1 per cent in the 11.1trn/- budget which is a clear sign of the governmet’s commitment to revamp the sector. According to Pinda, the aim is to help with the transformation from subsistence farming to commercial farming. The government is also encouraging the use of the country’s water bodies for irrigation instead of only depending on the country’s unreliable rainfall. This is why the budget for irrigation infrastructure has increased eleven times from 2bn/- in 2009/10 to 23bn/- this financial year. These funds are for the rehabilitation of traditional irrigation schemes; making feasibility studies in order to expand irrigation farming in the regions that have applied for the funds. The total potential area for irrigation development in Tanzania is estimated to be
29.4 million hectares but only 1 per cent of this is currently under irrigation. Establishing the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) is another part of Kilimo Kwanza’s second pillar and the establishment of the bank is underway. President Kikwete recently said when closing the Nane Nane farmers’ fair in Dodoma, that the government has set aside 50bn/- for the purpose. The main aim of starting a farmer’s
bank, the president said is to make sure farmers are independent and can access loans more easily. Access to loans will enable them mechanise their farming by using power tillers and tractors instead of using the hand hoe. This will help farmers to plant timely and reduce the time used on other farm operations; Establishment of the bank will also lead to establishment of agro–processing industries for value addition to farm pro-
TIB’s manager for Small and Medium Enterprises Benjamin Mazigo told Kilimo Kwanza that without documentation of their land, TIB shall not be able to deal with the farmers
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hen launching the Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First) initiative in August 2009, President Jakaya Kikwete said although there may be challenges in achieving the set goals towards realizing the green revolution in the country, he was adamant that nothing was impossible under the sun. “The challenges may be vast and seemingly difficult to implement yet it can, and should be done. We must play our part,” he said. How far has the Green Revolution been embraced by the Tanzanians all over the country? Is every one playing their part, individuals in their own capacities as well as institutions depending on assigned tasks. Some government offices have played their part and there is hope that it will meet it’s set objectives towards achieving a green revolution within the anticipated time frame. The whole process of implementing Tanzania’s Green Revolution is projected to be completed within ten years. Experts have it that the implementation of the green revolution in Tanzania is a process. “Thus, each aspect or recommendation will be triggered at whatever appropriate time it may be required to reinforce the implementation of other components of the process,” said Dunstan Mrutu, Executive Secretary of the Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) in a paper presentation at an engineers meeting to discuss the role of engineering and technology towards the success of Kilimo Kwanza last week. To start with, a political will is needed in realizing agricultural transformation and this is Kilimo Kwanza’s first pillar. The political will is there and the president has played his part by setting the ball rolling. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said in an interview recently that the fourth phase government has made an effort in promoting agriculture by introducing the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) in 2006. “We all know that you cannot speak about agriculture without involving other sectors like education, finance, water, infrastructure or industries. You will need money to finance agriculture for instance, so you cannot isolate it from other ministries. The ministries are there to complement each other,” said Pinda. He said it had been long since the country had sufficient food and that that was why the government thought it was high time it prioritised agriculture by coming up with the concept of Kilimo Kwanza. “This means that much as we need to promote other sectors, the agriculture sector must be given extra attention so that at the end of the day, Tanzanians should not go hungry,” said the prime minister. He said throughout his regional visits, he has been urging both party and government leaders to be exemplary by cultivating their own farms according to the principles of crop husbandry. He said ASDP has placed new initiatives with strategies and plans for implementation to ensure that Tanzanian farmers improve their crop production. The same goes for the livestock keepers and fishermen. The second pillar of Kilimo Kwanza focuses on modernizing and commercializing agriculture for medium and large scale producers with emphasis on productivity and tradability. The prime minister recently said at the African Green revolution Forum in Accra Ghana that Kilimo Kwanza, which is a public private partnership initiative brings together investments and private sector innovations to mobilize the huge agricultural potential of the southern highland regions of Tanzania into commercially viable agricultural production clusters of small, medium and large scale enterprises. He said the goal is to reach 2.5 million farmers and that the government was well on way to achieving this. In July this year, Tanzania joined other African countries that have signed the Compact for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as a shared framework to accelerate growth of the agriculture sector, reduce poverty and food insecurity. Pinda said to unlock the agricultural productivity potential of its farmers and achieve food security, Tanzania has initiated a new initiative together with the Alliance for a Green revolution in Africa and other stakeholders to implement Bread Basket Investment Plans in selected areas in the country. The areas according to Pinda have already been selected based on their suitability for food crop production and their poten-
duces which will in turn increase farmers’ incomes and marketing opportunities. Another effort in financing Kilimo Kwanza was having a special window at the Tanzania Investment bank (TIB) for concessionary lending for agriculture. TIB is encouraging small farmers to mobilise themselves and form groups so as to obtain loans from the bank, but the requirement here is for farmers to have title deeds. TIB’s manager for Small and Medium Enterprises Benjamin Mazigo told Kilimo Kwanza that without documentation of their land, TIB shall not be able to deal with the farmers. “So the ball is back in the government’s court to ensure farmers have documentation for their land,” he said Apparently, Kilimo Kwanza has now reached a stage where the participation of the ordinary farmers cannot meaningfully go forward until they acquire documentation for their land. President Kikwete himself has repeatedly called upon farmers to secure documents of registration for their land. According to the Lands ministry ICT chief, Elias Nyabusani without documents, farmers cannot access institutional funding for increasing productivity and yet most of them are cultivating very small pieces of land due to lack of equipment.
Nyabusani told Kilimo Kwanza recently that they have started in earnest to survey land in the country, especially those areas where farming is taking place with a view to issuing the bona fide farmers with titles to their land. That way, the farmers should be in a position to present the titles as collateral to the banks where they seek loans for capital. This is not an easy task because 89 percent of the land in Tanzania is not yet surveyed. The whole country measures nearly one million square kilometers. A total of 44 million hectares are suitable for agriculture but only a few of these are being utilised, far below their optimum potential. Documentation for some nearly two hundred thousand hectares is being fast tracked through efforts of the Tanzania investment authority and the Prime Minister’s Office for depositing in the Land Bank from where large scale commercial farmers shall access them. Just like the president said when launching Kilimo Kwanza, achieving a green revolution in Tanzania does not go without challenges. It may take longer than anticipated but with each one of us playing their part, we will definitely get there.
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
IMPLEMENTATION
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Farmers body for improved seeds
The country has for a long time been unable to meet its seed demand and has therefore been importing seeds from neighbouring countries. The Guardian’s Angel Navuri interviewed the Managing Director of the Tanganyika Farmers Association (TFA) F.W. Wanganju on the matter and what he thinks should be done to improve the situation. QUESTION: There has been a high demand for seeds because the country can not produce enough. Why is this so and can TFA help solve the problem? ANSWER: There has been a shortage of seeds and it will continue until we plant our own seeds. We as TFA are ready to help but that is if the government is willing to support us. Currently, the country is importing seeds from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe but what if these countries have problems? This means we won’t be able to farm any more. Every country that succeeded in seeds had good support from the government. The government has to play its part for the private sector to come along. The government should lead the way. Vegetable seeds are so many, which we also import but we need to supply our selves with a minimum of 50 percent of the seeds needed. At the moment, we can only produce 10 percent only. We need to be able to produce our own seeds. There are instances when farmers want to plant but they find they have run out of seeds. A strategic plan is needed to be brought in a proper ICT commercialized system. QUESTION: Is TFA ready to train farmers so they may be able to produce enough seeds? ANSWER: We can only assist the farmers produce the best quality products but not training. Our main projection is to
N By Miki Tasseni
EWS about the coffee industry in the country is beginning to look like a hospital card on malaria patient developments, or classical fever that could be malaria or without it. A variety of fever caused by a bedside parasite has typical phases of intensification and cooling down – without for once the patient having started to heal, and that looks like it resembles coffee. On one day the news is excellent and one believes it is the crop of the future, and on another day all is bleak, peasants are tired, slashing coffee trees all over. If reporters – for usually they rely on bureaucrats for interpreting events – were to ask officials of the Tanzania Coffee Board or any curing company, the answer would most likely include something like the need for ‘education’ on this or that aspect. It is not by any chance conceivable to a board official that slashing coffee trees is rational action on the part of a farmer, in which case ‘education’ has been lacking either about prices, or how to reduce costs on the farmer’s part. There would usually be no problem with policy. Education is an excellent formula on the part of bureaucrats at two levels, first it helps to show that between them and the farmers (or other claimants at whatever level of policy or consumer contention) it is the farmers (or consumers) who are wrong. Secondly, as such an issue would be of substantial public interest, when decision makers realize the need for ‘education’ in this or that sector, it helps bureaucrats to have their budgets raised. Their action in that direction is chiefly psychological, that peas-
TTFA members at a function in Morogoro recently
facilitate farmers to acquire farm inputs and technical advice. We should encourage our farmers to produce more.
QUESTION: Farmers have been producing more than enough but not allowed to sell. What’s your comment on this? ANSWER: The moment you encourage a farmer to produce more, no one should stop them from selling. A farmer should be able to sell and because they can’t get market as individuals, they should be assisted to get market. There should be an enabling environment to enable farmers sell their maize. We need people to import.
QUESTION: Most of the agricultural technologies are too expensive for a common farmer to afford. What’s your comment on this? ANSWER: Speaking of affordable technology, there are certain technologies whose price is not easy to reduce for example a tractor. You can’t reduce the price of a tractor for an ordinary farmer to afford. Instead the government should find a way to encourage farmers to share the tractors because a farmer may have two hectares for cultivation which he can pay for to be cleared. But since they can’t afford it, the government should subsidize the tractors. Agricultural institutions should be in the
forefront to advocate for cheap technologies, for example the money maker pumps and the maize sheds that are tied on a bicycle. President Jakaya Kikwete was right when he urged suppliers to bring cheap technology but we must wake up for the success of Kilimo Kwanza. Tanzania can feed the whole of Africa.
QUESTION: Any Advise to the government on Kilimo Kwanza? ANSWER: Under Kilimo Kwanza, Tanzania should prepare itself for the East African Market by enabling the farmers to sell their produce more often. This is the “Farmers’ Pride”. Tanzania has good re-
sources that anything can be grown in this country. We should start feeding ourselves completely and then feed others. Tanzanians are hard working people, and it’s only a matter of organizing farmers and giving them technological advice. We also need experts to advise the government on marketing.
QUESTION: Any challenges facing TFA? ANSWER: We have strived to concentrate on our sales to attain our budget. However we have faced several challenges and although our performance has witnessed impressive improvement and
Research uplifts coffee industry prospects, regulations ruin it ants should bear with the policy, or help to stem other interpretations that could come into view, against authorities. An example of lack of ‘education’ which leads to political disloyalty occurred far back in 1968, when prices of rice were already beginning to show a keen difference between this side of the border (in Same district, at that time Pare district) and the other side, in Kenya. Peasants in places like Kihurio or Gonja who farm plenty of rice took to selling to taking the rice to the better for better prices, infuriating district authorities and at higher levels, who reinforced police controls on border ‘panya routes.’ Peasants reacted by writing letters that insulted the topmost authorities in the country, hence some arrests occurred. These letters were cited in news reports from brave correspondents in Arusha and aired over BBC, Deutsche Welle and Taifa Leo Daily Nation newspapers, and hotly denied in Dar es Salaam. A case was thus filed in court for fabricated reports likely to cause public disorder but district authorities failed to prove their case so it was dismissed, but with a certain amount of instability and worsening of ties between the two countries having been noticed. In that sense, instances of coffee being smuggled
across the border to Uganda or Kenya, or being cut down in Tarime or elsewhere aren’t just local matters but nationwide. What has always been interesting from a strategic point of view is why Tanzania is in all instances a bad payer from producers, and thus constantly loses crops in raw form as well as precious minerals to the neighbours, who are capable of offering acceptable prices for those who take the crops there, or minerals. Is it a psychological failure that our officials or leaders don’t mind what prices are paid, or there are different scales and pricing sense between us and our neighbors? Why must Tanzania be a perpetually bad buyer of crops? Can this by any chance be considered a matter of standards or is it systematic dishonesty? That is why it is interesting to try and figure out which strand shall win in what is taking place in the coffee industry at present, where the positive news is the preparation of a series of new variety seeds by the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI). This has started to bring about a planting revolution in many parts of the country, as the new seeds require less time to grow and bear fruit, are resistant to pests, and despite that their sizes are often smaller, their yields per acre and per tree
are often in multiple to the previous. On the whole the new seed varieties remove most pesticide needs so they are economical. Ordinarily only this good news should have been aired, and the rest would by now have been taken care of, namely coffee curing, processing and marketing arrangements. As it appears, there is still plenty of experimentation going on, or adamantly maintaining some old structures with various layers of authority retaining traditional prerogatives like the issuing of coffee purchasing permits on an annual basis, or rather seasonal basis. This sort of privilege is meant to keep private purchases on short leash, allowed only if there is no pressing need on the part of the public sector to stop them – for instance if the price rises. What seems to be the case is that when world market prices fall abysmally and official buyers can’t pay a reasonably tolerable price to peasants and make their own ends meet – and can’t receive a substantial subsidy from the government, they step back. They allow private buyers (or middlemen) to purchase the crop, knowing that only a marginal surplus will be available, and such buyers have the environment to reduce their own costs to bare minimum, which crop boards and cooperatives can scarcely
muster. When prices rise to an appreciable level, they bring it to ‘normal,’ remove the middlemen, frustrate growers. That is what was lately happening in Tarime, a volatile district on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria, where peasants are said to be slashing coffee trees by the hundred, after the board removed ‘their company,’ Rogers and Man Ltd that was purchasing coffee. All produce is now expected to be sold to Mara Coffee Ltd, whose price offered to peasants is rock bottom. One way the company succeeds in paying minimally for the crop is to disparage that the crop is badly stored, is of poor quality etc – which doesn’t have to be true since other buyers pay a much better price for the same crop; give a dog a bad name. Given the fact that the district is also famous for its bhang-cultivation habits, and it is inclined to a minimum of violence when its income earning sources are disturbed, the monopoly that public authorities wish Mara Coffee Ltd to exercise – to protect it from Kenyan competition, etc – is strategically ominous. When this alternative to cultivating bhang becomes untenable as an income source, and most people see bhang as the more viable crop, keeping the peace will be problematic as even the police will be cor-
growth over the previous year, we have not been able to fully attain our budget. This is mainly because the budgeted Minjingu and other fertilizer sales could not be achieved. Greatly improved sales of maize seeds were not sufficient following a shortage during the planting season. The Trading Division recorded sales of 3.2 bn/- which were slightly higher than the sales of 3.0 bn/- recorded in the the previous year. This was however 39% lower than the ambitious budget of 5.2 bn/-. Exemplary performance was demonstrated by branch management at Mbeya, Karatu and Babati with exceptionally high sales at more than double the previous year and above their respective budgets. Sales at Iringa and Njombe branches were far below projections. The Property Division continued to do well with rental revenue rising from 413.m/- in the first half of the previous year to 541.3 m/- which was also higher than the budget of 489.4m/-. The overall operating profit for the six months at 106.8 m/- favourably compared with the previous year’s operating loss of 100.8 m/- but was lower than the budgeted profit of 132.7m/-. At a meeting held on 26th June 2010, the Board considered the large disparities between the budget and actual sales, revolving around sales of fertilizers especially at Iringa and Njombe branches and resolved that so as to avoid distortions and to facilitate proper monitoring in the remaining half of the financial year, budgets for the remaining six months be adjusted to reflect the reality on the ground. The branch net work changed slightly as the Tarakea sub-branch was closed down on 15th April 2010 following several years of loss making and a new branch opened its doors at Morogoro on 1st May 2010. The Morogoro branch was officially opened on 7th May. The well attended function which was also witnessed by all the TFA directors was also used to officially launch the participation of TFA in KILIMO KWANZA and to commemorate 75 years of our existence and service to the Tanzania farming community. The Company's major objectives and activities include procurement, supply and distribution of agricultural inputs, including farm machinery, livestock supplies and the related backup services; - purchase, storage and marketing of agricultural produce. TFA has established ambitious plans for its long term success founded on the needs of its shareholding members, Tanzania’s farmers and the wider communities in this country.
rupted. Monopoly strictures amid global price declines disrupt the social fabric; people tire out. In these days of electoral contests, it would also be interesting to see the mechanism taken so that private buyers Majoge Group and Rodgers and Man Ltd had their licences withdrawn, while Mara Coffee Ltd works with one Hamil Hamza to purchase all the coffee in the district. Things like that don’t just come out of nowhere but are carefully organized, with a neat sharing of spoils, which ordinarily would be of interest to polling analysis, as to what local issues drive politics in a particular area. Tarime is interesting in that regard because it voted Chadema in 2005, the MP died in a suspicious car crash, and his Chadema successor failed to win the preference vote and is not slugging for CUF – while expressing loyalty to Chadema. What give and take thus comes up between the local decision makers, the ruling party and local councilors is quite interesting, within the backstage of policy confusion nationally, where selling to Kenya is ‘economic sabotage.’ The Tarime situation is a typical case of ‘old habits die hard,’ that despite trappings of crop sector liberalization going back to 1986 or 1988, nothing has fundamentally changed since the public sector buyers or processors weren’t disbanded, merely shorn of total power. They work with regulators and in such a way they are the regulators themselves, as regulators first react to interests of public firms or bodies – when they fail regulators seem to relax and allow free market instruments, and when they are confident they can do the job socialist monopolies creep back. Nor have structures of the East African Common Market changed things as they cover movement of goods across borders – without prior reconciliation of liberalization at border movement level and inwardly, at the local level.
The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA
NEWS
8
I
Tuesday 14 September, 2010
Tarime: Ignorance costing farmers their cows' lives
Atomic Energy, a solution to poor food storage
By Bhoke Msama, Tarime
By Lazaro Felix
gnorance of some pastoralists in Nyaichoka village, Serengeti District, Mara region is costing them lives of their livestock. An average of seven cows are dying every week due to thirst. This is a result of drought caused by inadequate rainfall which has been forcing herdsmen to trek for about 20 to 30 km in search of water and pastures for their animals. But all this is happening partly because these pastoralists ignored the advice by livestock extension officers to construct a dam at a cost of 4m/- as measure to overcome the problem. “It’s true that livestock extension officers advised us to construct a dam…we called upon villagers do contribute about 300,000 per household, but most refused…so we could not proceed with the plan,” said Mwita Machungu, a pastoralist for over 10 years adding that, “most of us own more than 200 cattle…but as you know pastoralists here are not ready to sell their cattle in order to get money to solve this problem.” A survey done by this journalist revealed that although pastoralists have been reluctant to contribute the money for the construction of a dam, one head of cattle sells between 300,000/- and 500,000/-. “We can not contribute such a big amount of money while we have our own natural sources of water. Well, the river far from the village but they think it’s important to build the dam, then let the government do so” said Wambura Chacha one of the pastoralists who refused to contribute the money. But there are people like Mwita who contributed more than they were asked to contribute. Mwita contributed 1m/-. “I am very disappointed with my community for refusing to contribute on the project…its not ignorance, but foolishness that will cost the lives of our cattle,” complained Mwita. Statistics from the Ministry of Development show that Tanzania is the third country in Africa with 18.8 million cattle after Ethiopia and Sudan.
The problem of crops rotting and inhibited growth of plants that small farmers in Tanzania have been facing could be resolved by having proper utilization of atomic energy in agricultural production. This was said by the Director of the Nuclear Technology Directorate in the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission, Firmi Banzi in an interview with The Guardian. Banzi said atomic energy has been greatly used to support agricultural mechanization in respect to storage, life span of the crops and safety of food. He said this energy has been approved to increase productivity by radiating the seeds to change the genes that were likely to be inactive and making them active, the function of this energy in this area is to kill the bacteria that cause seeds to rot. Farmers can use atomic energy to increase seed mechanism which will then accelerate to more yielding of crops since currently some farmers still face the problem of using seeds whose mechanisms are low. “There recently has been production of more animals in Tanzania as a result of atomic energy which helps in artificial insemination. Animals produced using this technology have proved to be of more efficiency,” said Banzi. According to Banzi, atomic energy in Tanzania has been used in wheat and banana breading in Arusha and rice breading in Zanzibar. Talking about the use of energy for crop storage especially the perishable fruits like bananas, oranges, tomatoes, onions and other perishable crops to stay longer, it is done by killing the possible virus that could cause the crops to decay. “It is even possible for perishable crops to stay for months and even one year provided that they are well radiated,” he explained He said, this kind of storing crops is not only efficient in terms of life span of fresh crops but also a safer and healthier means of keeping food as it has been proved to be free from chemicals and yet does not change the taste of food. Pointing out the areas that have been benefiting from this technology, Banzi said, Ghana, Zambia and South Africa are among the African countries that are utilizing atomic energy to support farming. He said although the technology seems expensive, it will be possible to introduce in Tanzania in three years to come since the raw materials are abundant in Tanzania. According to New Uranium Mining Project-Africa website http://www.wise-uranium.org/upafr.html there are ongoing projects in parts of Tanzania involving uranium activities. According to this website, Tanzania has at least 54 million pounds of Uranium oxide deposits Areas with ongoing projects include Manyoni Project formerly Bahi Project which was given to Uranium mining company Uranex and it was in 2009 given a go ahead by the government to mine uranium and Mkunju River Project under Mantra Resources Ltd of South Africa was given the go ahead to mine the uranium. Either it is estimated that Tanzania farmers lose 40% of the crops harvested in different parts of the country due to poor storage facilities, according to the Director of National Food Security in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, John Mngodo. At Dar es Salaam’s Tandale Market, fruit vendors have been complaining of making a loss due to poor storage facilities. The new technology therefore comes as a savior to farmers and traders who have been incurring losses due to lack of proper storage facilities.
Endangered cows at Tarime
The animals too have a right to decent treatment By Lazaro Felix Are you one of those people who don’t believe that animals, just like human beings have rights? Well, you are very wrong. The fact is they do. And there are people out there who spend their precious time advocating for animals’ rights. They do so because there are people out there who mistreat animals. People who give them less food or make them go for sometime without food, those who feed them on left- overs, and people who overwork them to mention but a few. The Tanzania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA)’ Executive Secretary, Johari Gessan says animal cruelty in Tanzania is a big problem
that is practiced all over the country. Explaining how animals suffer in the hands of human beings, Gessan refers to things like mal-treatment during transportation, feeding, hunting and preparation of land for cultivation. According to her, domestic animals like cats and dogs which are usually friendly to human beings suffer the most. The animals’ rights activist says animals kept for commercial purposes are usually given limited supply of food as a way to minimize costs which is unfair. She says even the type of food given to some domestic animals leaves a lot to be desired. Cats and dogs in most cases are given left-overs, according to her. But, Adam Ngamba is surprised that there are people who subject their livestock
to cruelty. He gives an example of the Sukuma people where he originates saying they normally take good care of their cattle in the same way they do to fellow human beings. Elaborating on the harsh conditions cows face during transportation to the market and pointing at a picture depicting the same in her office, Gessan says cows are normally packed in a vehicle like sardines in such a way that it becomes difficult to turn their heads. And when one falls accidentally, the others just step on it. This results into some cows reaching their destinations with bleeding or broken limbs. Some even lose consciousness. According to scientists, overcrowding causes shortage of oxygen and high production of carbon dioxide which leads to suffocation.
Gessan says in most cases, when animals are transported they are never given basic needs like water and food. She refers to this as cruelty because thirst and starvation could lead to death. One wonders whether livestock keepers who subject their livestock to this kind of treatment expect to get much in return? For it’s like expecting a big harvest from a poorly tended farm. Elias Miko who keeps poultry does not believe much in unfair treatment of animals during transportation saying it is too risky since he has seen those doing so put to task. He wonders how people can do that knowing very well what would become of them as a result. On starving the animals during transportation, Miko thinks it’s not practical to
feed the animals while the vehicle is in motion. “You know they just accuse us of mistreating animals but we feed them and take them to the veterinary officers before selling them,” he explained. Drawing an example from developed countries and in an effort to end cruelty to animals, TSPCA has been sensitizing the public through media like radio, television, magazines, newspapers and brochures. A special program to sensitise the public all over the country is underway. TSPCA will start with Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Shinyanga, Mbeya and Dodoma regions before going to other areas. The programme mainly targets women and children who are said to be more animal-friendly. Because of the NGO’s efforts, a law against animal cruelty was passed in 2009.
According to Gessan, the law is yet to be enforced since people have to be given education on the animals’ rights first. “The enforcement of the law will officially start in 2011after the program has been introduced and well communicated to the public,” Gessan says. But are the targeted people aware of the existence of the NGO, the law and the fact that animals also deserve to be valued? Isaack Slayo, a livestock keeper is one among hundreds of people who are not aware of these. He has never heard of the NGO’s sensitization campaigns. Neither does he know it exists. However, commenting on animal cruelty during transportation, Slayo says some animals are so delicate that they need extra care during transportation lest they died.