Agriculture minister seeks approval for Sh267bn budget for his docket

What you need to know:

The minister told the parliament on Friday that Sh103 billion for recurrent expenditures and Sh156 for Development projects.

Dodoma. Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Minister Dr Charles Tizeba has asked the parliament to approve Sh267 billion budget for his office for 2017/18 Financial Year.

The minister told the parliament on Friday that Sh103 billion for recurrent expenditures and Sh156 for Development projects.

As he tabled the budget, Dr Tizeba said 65 per cent of Tanzanians are employed in the agriculture sector and contribute up to 100 per cent of available food in the country. 

He told the parliament during his speech that in 2016, agriculture contributed up to 29.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to 29.0 per cent in 2015.

He said that 16.2 million tonnes of food crops were produced in 2016, compared to 15.5 million tonnes in 2015. And that 881,583 tonnes of cash crops were produced in 2016/17 compared to 796,502 in 2017/18.

The Minister revealed that the government in 2017/18 is going to scrap 10 levies in tobacco farming.