Move to improve horticulture in Tanzania
Moshi. The Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) has reached out to over 1,000 farmers in Kilimanjaro Region in efforts to transform the sub-sector to enhance its contribution to the economy.
Through the drive, more smallholder farmers are expected to acquire the necessary skills needed in the cultivation of horticultural crops.
Taha’s operations manager, Simon Mlay, revealed this during a Farmers’ Day event at Kahe in Moshi Rural District.
He said the region was trailing Arusha Region in the production of horticultural crops, targeting both the export and domestic markets.
“If the sub-sector is to make any meaningful contribution to the country’s economy, growers have to shift from subsistence to commercial farming,” he said.
He observed that the sub-sector was showing signs of expanding countrywide and that already 24 regions had engaged in it.
Mr Mlay said Taha experts offer extension services, training on nutrition and quality control, among others, to farmers.
“We also avail market information to growers and sensitize them on best practices to improve productivity,” he pointed out.
Gracing the event, Kilimanjaro regional agricultural officer Kahai Medard said unless they improved the quality of their crops, smallholder horticultural farmers would fail to penetrate the lucrative market that existed within and outside the country.
He urged them to use the services of agriculture experts and explore best practices.
Mr Medard said investors had been pumping millions of dollars into the sector, trying to stimulate it so that it would supply quality produce to the market.
Horticultural crops grown in Tanzania include cut flowers, mainly produced in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions, vegetables, fruits and spices.
Last year, Tanzania earned euros 653 million, which is a drop compared with Holland’s euros 7 billion worth of exports.
The latter is the main importer of the fresh produce from Tanzania for the Dutch market and trans-shipment to other markets in Europe and beyond.
The sub sector registered a growth of 11 per cent in the last seven years, according to Taha.
Projections are that the exports will hit $ 1.3 billion in three year’s time if the current production trend is sustained.
