Renewed hopes for grape processors in Tanzania

Dodoma. The government has promised to act on concerns from grape processors including imposed tax to imported wine and respective policies.

Deputy minister for Agriculture Anthony Mavunde made the statement during the purchase of grapes from farmers, assuring that the government will increase protection of locally produced products in order to make them competitive in the market.

“We will ask for the support of legislators in addressing policy issues. We will also ask support of the ministry of Finance on eradicating obstacles that make locally produced wine less popular in the market than imported products,” he said.

The obstacles include tax imposed to imported wine from South Africa which is domestically traded at Sh8,500, while locally produced wine is sold at Sh11, 000, making the imports win the local market, according to him. Furthermore, he said the ministry of Agriculture will continue to take measures of attracting Foreign Domestic Investment (FDI) that manufacture grapes products other than wine.

Mr Mavunde, who doubles as Dodoma Urban legislator, said the government was the one that brought in Shinyanga Jambo Company to purchase grapes from farmers.

According to him, there were over 512,000 tonnes of grapes in grapes farms owned by all the 11 cooperatives in Dodoma. “In the first phase, the company will procure 3,000 tonnes. It will also provide farmers with storage tanks to improve juices preservation,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the government will build three grapes juice storage facilities in the region in its efforts to reduce post-harvest losses and improve farmers’ beneficiation.

He said that the establishment of those canters will provide farmers confidence of selling grapes profitably at any given time.

Speaking earlier, the Cetawico factory manager, Mr James Nyanja, wanted the government to be number one ‘whistle-blower’ and protector of locally produced wine against the imports.

According to him, about 100 percent of wine making raw materials are coming from abroad, noting that imposed tax was a burden to local processors.

“Tax reduction will provide production costs’ relief and therefore lower the price of locally produced wine and therefore fairly competing with imported products because we produce high quality wine compared to imported products,” he said.

A grape farmer, Mr Benjamin Lucas said problems in the grapes market started many years ago following the government’s failure to create database of important issues related to locally produced grapes and wine.