Tizeba: SAGCOT ought to go national

Mbeya. The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Charles Tizeba, has said the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) should be replicated in other regions after showing improvement of agricultural production in the southern highlands.

Currently, the initiative has six clusters that cover eight regions in which Dr Tizeba said at the weekend it had uplifted smallholder farmers. “You have shown the way and you have the expertise.

We can’t afford to see other regions languishing while we have a state-of-the-art agricultural initiative that needs to be shared across the board,” he said during the launch of Mbarali Cluster which comprises Mbeya and Songwe regions.

He said apart from the agricultural initiatives, SAGCOT had also ensured provision of other social services such as improving access to water, power and road infrastructure to farmers.

The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that it facilitated agricultural growth by putting in place the best policies, a favorable tax regime and better infrastructure.

He said the government would also work on challenges facing farmers such as the high cost of doing business, poor farm implements, double taxation and ensuring that farmers flourished in their farming investments.

Speaking on behalf of SAGCOT partners, the country director of the UK’s Department for International Development (DIFD), Ms Beth Arthy, hailed the agricultural initiative in the southern highlands, saying agriculture was the only activity that could uplift the lives of many Tanzanians.

“What has been done in the southern highlands is very important in the value chain and economic growth because agriculture is the only sector that can make visible changes in the economy,” she said. She said she was new in Tanzania but the few areas she had visited exhibited the importance of closer partnership between the private sector and the government to improve the agriculture value chain.

The chief executive officer of SAGCOT, Mr Geoffrey Kirenga, said the initiative was born out of a roundtable discussion between the private and public sectors and would succeed because of the good cooperation.

“Our vision is to ensure that come 2030 we are, among other things, able to uplift more than two million people out of abject poverty. We want to see the agriculture value chain improved,” Mr Kirenga said.