Over 300 sunflower farmers benefit from special project
What you need to know:
The project helps farmers with free quality sunflower seeds and training in sunflower farming methods.
Chemba. More than 300 sunflower farmers in Kondoa and Chemba districts in Dodoma Region have so far benefited from a special project introduced by Livelihood Basix Tanzania (LBT) in partnership with the government.
The project helps farmers with free quality sunflower seeds and training in sunflower farming methods.
According to LBT country director Atilio Mbwilo, training is offered in partnership with Kibo Seed Company Ltd, Ilonga Agriculture Research Institution and extension officers from Chemba and Kondoa districts.
“Most farmers lack capital to buy recommended seeds like Records and Kenya Fedha, but also they lack the market for their crops,” he said during the launch of this year’s sunflower growing season in Chemba District.
He noted that farmers had been encouraged to join groups and open bank accounts to ensure sustainability.
Speaking after handing over of 174kg of sunflower quality seeds to famers in Chemba to launch the growing season, Chemba District Commissioner Simon Odunga asked the farmers to utilise the training workshop and assistance from the project effectively. He challenged them to use the project to eradicate poverty.
“Chemba still lags behind economically. Growing sunflower can help you eradicate poverty. The fifth phase government’s major mission is industrial economy and sunflower is a needed raw material for sunflower oil industries,” he said. He noted that the government was not ready to offer free food, urging them to work hard.
Dodoma and Singida regions are famous for sunflower production, but most farmers are yet to benefit from it due to poor farming methods and lack of capital.
In recent years, the public and private sectors started initiatives to boost sunflower oil processing industries. Among them was the government’s decision to make the two regions benefit from SME Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund. Others projects to boost sunflower production in the two regions include the Agriculture Markets Development Trust (AMDT) and the 2016-2020 Sunflower Development Strategy Plan. Other regions engaged in sunflower production are Mbeya, Rukwa, Katavi, Njombe, Singida, Shinyanga, Manyara, Lindi and Mtwara.
