Women farmers win government support

Dar es Salaam. The government has pledged to provide agricultural inputs including tractors to women who practice modern agriculture through their forum to help their efforts in fully adopting agro-business practices.

The deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Mr William Ole Nasha said the inputs will be given to groups of women under the Centre for Advancement of Women in Agriculture in Tanzania (Cawat) and said they will be assured of the markets.

At the same time, the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) declared its commitment of allocating Sh600 million for empowering women through Cawat.

Mr Nasha was speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa while officiating a fundraising event to empower women adopting the kind of agriculture.

“The inputs that include tractors will be provided to groups of women who are particularly interested and ready to practice modern agriculture through Cawat. Further, the beneficiaries will be assured of reliable markets for their produce,’’ insisted Mr Nasha, who also made a personal contribution of Sh2 million.

“By partnering with Cawat we are going to do something very important to help women adopt modern agriculture in the country. Basically we are satisfied with their plans as they are consistent with our goals…we are convinced that this is a very good start and we see a bright future,’’ said TADB’s acting managing director Mr Francis Assenga.

During the event, a total of Sh27 million was collected in cash and pledges from various participants. Further it was also mentioned that the Japan and Switzerland Embassies in the country had expressed their willingness to support various projects undertaken by Cawat.