What Tanzania’s Sh4 trillion in horticulture means to farmers

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has launched a Sh4 trillion Horticulture Development Strategy that will be rolled out between 2021 and 2031 to address challenges facing the subsector.
The strategy has been designed to meet increasing consumer demands and changes in their preferences, variation in the government’s priorities in improving business environment, processing, and technology. 

The document has also been produced to improve stakeholders’ coordination in the value chain and the subsector in general.
Providing the strategy’s details in Dodoma, the director of crops development in the ministry of Agriculture, Mr Nyasebwa Chimagu, said there were eight key issues that are contained in the strategy.

He said the strategy was aimed at mobilising an average of Sh400 billion in annual investment capital in order to increase production of horticulture crops by 40 percent and mobilise the use of vegetables, fruits, and spices’ natural seeds.
“It aims at strengthening research, innovation, and technology as well as promoting marketing and the business environment,” he said. 
He also stated that the document aims to improve packaging, storage, and transportation infrastructure in areas identified as a major challenge.

According to him, the strategy aims at strengthening coordination, the formulation of institutional systems and policies, emphasizing monitoring and evaluation and improving stakeholders’ capacity building in the value-added investment in the subsector. 
But, Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said setting smart objectives that would enable the assessment of the strategy would be of paramount importance. 
He said the objectives would include job creation, the quantity of seedlings planted and the identification of crops that would play an important role in the sector’s growth. 

According to him, the subsector has been witnessing double funding allocation in implementing projects, noting, for instance, a project implemented in one of the districts that separately received funds from the ministry and four donors. 
He said, “This was happening without resolving key known problems facing the horticulture subsector, such as inadequate storage facilities, irrigation technology, and inadequate processing factories to reduce post-harvest losses.” 

“Priorities should be to increase production of horticulture crops and reduce funds’ expenditure for allowances, workshops, training etc,” he added.
Mr Bashe, who doubles as Nzega Urban legislator, directed implementation of the strategy through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and said that the document should be updated.

“The Sixth Phase government is massively investing in the agriculture sector to address basic challenges facing farmers. However, it is the private sector that procures agricultural crops and not the government,” he said.
According to him, funds disbursed by donors came from taxpayers’ from respective countries, suggesting that the money should therefore be used to address fundamental problems facing farmers. 

He insisted that his docket had no interest in funds disbursed by donors, observing that what donors were supposed to do was to inform the ministry about the projects to be implemented in collaboration with the private sector.
“They could plan to build a cold facility at the Dar es Salaam Port in order to improve the export of horticulture crops. What we need as the ministry is information about what is being implemented and to reduce the expenditure of funds for workshops, allowances, and seminars,” he insisted.
The Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Livestock and Water chairperson, Dr Christine Ishengoma, said weather challenges have forced many regions to focus on the production of horticultural crops such as avocados, mangoes, vegetables and flowers. 

“However, we are not doing well in the production of spice crops, the area where we are now supposed to increase our focus following the increasing global potential,” she said.
She challenged stakeholders to focus on exporting processed products and increasing domestic consumption of horticulture crops in order to address nutritional challenges that result in 32% of stunted children.
The chairperson of the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT), Dr Jacqueline Mkindi, said challenges highlighted in the strategy will be turned into opportunities in the next short period of time be turned into opportunities.
“We are ready to collaborate with the ministry and stakeholders to ensure the market for perishable products, including horticulture crops, meat and fish, is globally open,” she said.

She commended the government for its role in securing the South African and Indian markets, noting that arrangements were underway to open a new market in China. 
The World Vegetable Centre (WorldVeg) director, Dr Gabriel Rugalema, said hurried, in-depth and efficient execution of the strategy is required, observing that measures should be put in place to recognise what stakeholders are doing in every corner of the country. 
“The strategy’s implementation should be supported by the presence of enough seeds and seedlings in order to create more jobs for the youth,” he said.
According to him, WorldVeg has a large bank of seeds comprising 70,000 varieties from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 
“I reiterate my organisation’s commitment to cooperate with stakeholders in the realisation of dreams to provide the country with improved nutrition, income generation and employment,” he said.
Agriculture Non-State Actors Fund (Ansaf) executive director Audax Rukonge said the sector’s overall performance depends on the presence of different stakeholders, including transporters, warehouse owners, processors, and friendly policies. 

He said over 40 percent of the grievances facing farmers are caused by policies, not the soil, seeds, and marketing. 
“There is no way policy issues could be resolved without holding a meeting of stakeholders. They are supposed to meet, discuss, and resolve problems related to investment, production, processing, marketing, and pricing,” he said.
Furthermore, he said globally, the emphasis should be on the involvement of a multi-stakeholder value chain approach, but where do they meet and express their issues of concern.

“I think we need to agree on the percentage that will be directed to investment. For instance, we have a procedure to take less than 20 percent of agricultural investment for administrative issues, salaries, and other operational costs,” he said.
“Stakeholders’ deliberations should be supported by research such as those involving soil, marketing, strengthening cooperative unions, etc,” he added. 
However, Mr Rukonge observed that the lack of financing in the efficient implementation of the strategy would be a wastage of time. 
Therefore, he called on the public and private stakeholders to make an immense allocation of funds for smooth and efficient implementation of the strategy. 
The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) chief executive officer, Mr Godfrey Kirenga urged the government to increase investment and collaborate with the private sector in the implementation of the strategy. 

He said horticulture crops require expertise and attention in the value chain. Also, special infrastructure is needed to curb post-harvest losses and reach domestic and foreign consumers at the required quality, stressing the need to increase investment in the area. 
According to him, the government is also obliged to create legal and regulatory frameworks that will be conducive for increasing investment, economic growth, income generation, and job creation.

Why the subsector is a boon

Data from the private sector shows that the export of horticultural crops amounts to $700 million, as compared to $500 million from the better performing cashew season and $330 million from tobacco subsectors.
Addressing horticulture stakeholders early this year in the Arusha region, Mr Bashe said the youth, accounting for the majority of the population, prefer to work in the horticulture subsector as compared to traditional crops. 
“A better tomorrow in this country will be built by Tanzanians below 40 years of age and not above 60 years. We will therefore, support the youth in addressing their challenges, including the provision of investment capital, technology and access to markets,” he pledged.