Governments challenged to make farming attractive
What you need to know:
- Addressing participants on Thursday evening on the side-lines during the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mr Hiroshi Kato said agriculture revolution will be achieved on the continent once farmers are attracted to the farming business by making good profits.
Nairobi. African governments have been challenged to transform agriculture into an attractive business for the majority of the continents’ small scale farmers.
Addressing participants on Thursday evening on the side-lines during the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Mr Hiroshi Kato said agriculture revolution will be achieved on the continent once farmers are attracted to the farming business by making good profits.
“We need to make agriculture a cool business, we need to attract the youth into it and encourage them to remain in the rural settings to farm and make serious money,” he said.
In Tanzania, JICA supports a special agricultural programme that was introduced in three villages, namely Boheloi, Kwesine and Maringo, Lushoto District, in 2013.
Under the programme farmers are taught to carry out market surveys to know what the market demands then follow up with a production plan to meet the expectations of the customers. From there, farmers are then linked to potential buyers. This has helped farmers in Lushoto sell their produce to Five Star Hotels and large supermarkets in Dar es Salaam.
