Tanzania: Ban on pupa butterfly export to continue

Tanga: Butterfly farmers who thought their pleas for a lift on the ban of pupa exports would land on the right ears are in for a surprise.

The Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Constantine Kanyasu this weekend, delivered a slap on the face by declaring that the ban would continue, advising the farmers to come up with other methods of gaining income through the same products.

Speaking at the closing of the 10-day Tanga Trade Fair at Mwahako Fair Grounds, Kanyasu said that areas where butterfly farming is being undertaken should now devise new ways of attracting visitors to view that butterflies on site instead of selling pupas that sustain butterfly houses in Europe or elsewhere.

Kanyasu said that the government understands the dilemma facing butterfly farmers but was also concerned with export of what he called Tanzania’s national wealth to other countries.

He said that attracting visitors to butterfly sites would be a better alternative than exporting pupas to Europe because the country could get more income from that business than from exporting them.

The farmers, according to the Manager of the Butterfly Farming Project, Amir Sheghembe, were getting between Sh. 80,000 and 300,000 per month from sale of butterfly pupas that were being exported to butterfly houses in Europe, the USA and Australia.

The farmers reportedly accumulated sales amount to over Sh 500 million between 2004 and 2016 when the ban was effected.

“Sixty five (65) per cent of the proceeds goes directly to the farmer while seven percent or over Sh. 50 million in total for all those years goes back to villages for financing various development projects including water projects, village offices and building classrooms,” said Sheghembe.

He said that 57 per cent of the mountains’ biodiversity has been lost or still in danger of being lost if efforts to stop activities that accelerate environmental degradation are not taken.