Invest heavily in agricuture: govt

The minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr Charles Tizeba

What you need to know:

  • The country is also geared up for industrialisation by 2020.
  • “(Promotion of) agriculture is unavoidable to industrialise Tanzania because crops will be raw materials for those industries,” the minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr Charles Tizeba, told the just-ended 10th Tanzania National Business Council meeting at the State House in Dar es Salaam.

Dar es Salaam. The government has said massive investment is needed in agriculture for Tanzania to realise its dream of becoming a middle-income economy by 2025.

The country is also geared up for industrialisation by 2020.

“(Promotion of) agriculture is unavoidable to industrialise Tanzania because crops will be raw materials for those industries,” the minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr Charles Tizeba, told the just-ended 10th Tanzania National Business Council meeting at the State House in Dar es Salaam.

The meeting, which brought together representatives from public and private sector, was chaired by President John Magufuli. Dr Tizeba said it was possible to reach the middle-income status by 2025 by investing heavily in agriculture. He spoke about inordinately high prices of fertilisers.

He cited studies which show that to make fertilisers affordable to the majority of farmers, bulk procurement tendering should adopted.

He was concerned that local improved seeds were more expensive than imported ones. “One kilo of imported seeds is sold at Sh1,500 while a kilo of locally produced seeds is sold at Sh7,000.”