Experts list crop export snags

The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mr Innocent Bashungwa

Dar es Salaam. Researchers have outlined measures the country needs to take to increase the production and export of key cash crops.

The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mr Innocent Bashungwa, said during the unveiling of research findings in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the studies have come at the right time when the government is in the process of transforming Tanzania’s agriculture.

“These research books have a lot of information that will help us to improve the sector,” he said.

He said the government is in the final stages of conducting soil research that will help identify fertiliser for various soil types across the country.

Cashew nuts, tobacco, coffee, tea, cotton, sisal and cloves make up the bulk of Tanzania’s traditional export crops.

Against a backdrop of falling production and export earnings from most of the cash crops during the past two years, researchers conducted studies into the export performance of sisal and coffee as well as into the value chains of tobacco and cashew nuts. The studies, conducted by researchers from Policy Research for Development (Repoa), suggested a number of measures to boost production and exports of the crops.

Repoa executive director Donald Mmari, who personally took part in a research titled Institutional Innovations and Barriers to Competitiveness, revealed for instance that crop boards have been doing a lot in developing crops under their watch. However, little was being considered at the implementation stage.

Conducted between 2009 and 2012 before being updated in 2016, the study focused on exploring the fundamental constraints that prevent improvement in agriculture export performance.

Dr Mmari said the research conducted on sisal and coffee showed that the bulk of the crops are grown by smallholder farmers who use old technology. This contributes to low export earnings.

“In this study, we have suggest that the government should accept the proposals of crop boards as well as review current and previous policies to find out where they have succeeded and where they have failed,” he said.

Another report unveiled in Dar es Salaam yesterday is titled Agricultural Policy and Poverty Reduction in Tanzania.

Focusing primarily on competitiveness of the tobacco value chain and exports, it established that production costs in Tanzania were high and that declining demand had reduced profitability of the commodity.

This has seen buyers shift to low-cost producers in Malawi and Zambia.

In Tanzania, the researchers say, disbursement of development funds for tobacco leave a lot to be desired.

“In the 2015/16 financial year, only 16 per cent of the government’s development budget was disbursed, meaning that projects such as mapping of farmland, issuance of title deeds, inputs schemes, construction of warehouses and support for research and extension services were limited,” the report says.

The researchers recommend that the government should take measures that can improve the competitiveness and quality of leaf tobacco and curing processes that can lead to better grades. “It is further recommended to invest in more processing infrastructure to create greater value addition and look to alternative markets for Asia and the Middle East,” the report reads.

As for the cashew nut value chain, it was a senior researcher at Repoa, Dr Blandina Kilama, who conducted the research.

She recommended that Tanzania should emulate Vietnam in the marketing of cashew nuts.

“This case study has shown that freedom of choice for farmers in Vietnam provides alternatives and is a credible threat to processors while involvement of the state with the inclusion of a single shareholder and the exclusion of others restricts expansion of the entire sector as is the case in Tanzania,” the report says.