EDITORIAL: Improved seeds crucial for farm productivity

What you need to know:

  • Indeed, the government has started taking measures to ensure that sunflower farmers have a reliable domestic market.

Farmers need to be facilitated every which way to boost productivity - and, ultimately, contribute meaningfully to the economy. For example, they need improved seed varieties for the crops they grow; ready access to affordable financial services, and a reliable market for their produce.

Indeed, the government has started taking measures to ensure that sunflower farmers have a reliable domestic market.

The recent fiscal measure whereby the government introduced tax on crude palm oil imports is clear testimony that it is protecting domestic edible oil producers.

Sunflower is among the raw materials for domestic cooking oil production which would directly benefit Tanzanians.

However, the main challenge is that sunflower cannot alone satisfy the domestic demand for cooking oil due to low seeds production. Tanzanian sunflower farmers produce small quantities - doing so from varieties that have low oil content.

It is due to this reason that farmers urge the government to subsidise availability of modern seeds which have higher yields. It should also be remembered that sunflower farming is mainly done by smallholders who have limited access to financial services, as they are considered risky borrowers.

They cannot afford the prices of improved seed varieties - which are also few in the market. For instance, a kilogramme of hybrid sunflower seeds is sold at over Sh30,000 - which most smallholder farmers can hardly afford. Therefore - as the sunflower farmers association suggests - the government should act to ensure that modern seeds are readily available and affordable - if necessary, by subsidising improved seeds production.

The government should also increase budgets for research and development of seeds that improve productivity - thereby empowering more farmers. This should also apply to seeds of other strategic crops so as to stimulate agriculture which has immense potential to boost socio-economic development.

Prioritise health cover

The call by Amref Health-Africa (Tanzania) for the government to start implementing a universal health insurance programme, if it is to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by year-2030, should be taken seriously. Only 32 per cent of Tanzania’s total population (of 54.2 million) is covered by health insurance schemes, according to Amref.

Universal health care is a system that provides inclusive health care and financial protection. It is organised around providing a specified package of benefits to all citizens - with the end-goal of providing financial risk protection, access to better health services - and all-inclusive improved health outcomes.

Social protection - such as a universal health insurance - is a major driver in achieving UHC, which is a key milestone to improved health and wellbeing all-round. But, in pursuing universal healthcare, we must also improve and expand health facilities and services-provision so that they correspond with the growth of demand for universal health insurance and other drivers for the UHC goal. In other words: enabling the citizenry to access health-care services when these are non-existent or are inadequate is a daydream; an exercise in futility.