GO FOR GREEN TECH TO SUSTAIN FOOD SECURITY
The leading front-page story in our edition yesterday (January 19, 2022) was on the success of the national Centre of Excellence for Tanzania’s horticultural industry.
Titled ‘Climate-smart green tech boon for farmers,’ the report noted that the “fully-fledged Centre of Excellence” (CoE) was established a years ago as a pilot project by the Tanzania Horticulture Association Group (Taha Group) in Arusha Region.
Taha did this using funds of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), as well as other forms of support from the country’s partners-in-development.
And, in due course of time and events the Centre has most ably served horticultural farmers and related stakeholders in the administrative Regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mara and Simiyu.
Using modern farming practices, technology and agricultural extension services – compliments of CoE – small-scale horticultural farmers have especially been benefiting from their activities in terms of increased harvested volumes, quality of the harvests and returns at the market place – including overseas markets.
As it is, the Taha/UNDP Centre of Excellence is officially recognised as such by the British Retail Consortium (BRC): a United Kingdom trade association for the food retail industry. BRC was created in 1992 to establish and oversee “best practices for food production and handling, as well as for food safety in general.”
The Taha Group/UNDP cooperation, collaboration and other forms of developmental association date back years, with the common intention of bolstering and boosting the sustainable development of horticulture in Tanzania – especially by and for Tanzanian small-holders.
As we noted in our report yesterday, the two noble institutions are already working on expanding coverage of the CoE products and services countrywide.
According to the Resident UNDP Representative, Ms Christine Musisi: “We are already developing another programme –‘Horticultural transformation for inclusive growth (HOTIGRO) – with Taha and a wider partnership base…”
How, considerate, we say in appreciation as we wish them all Godspeed.
LET UAE REVISIYT ITS BAN LIST
As a nation state on its own merits, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of seven elective mornachies has drawn up a ‘Travel Red List’ of travellers banned from entering the Emirates.
This is on account of the global Covid-19 pandemic that is caused by the mutating coronavirus, and which is still ravaging humanity and economies at the national and international levels.
As of Tuesday, travellers from Kenya and Tanzania were still on the banned list, while those from Angola, Ghana Guinea, Ivory Coast and Uganda virtually next door had just been removed from it.
Again, effective from January 13 this year, the UAE had officially resumed passenger flights to and from five African countries – and, once again, including flights to and from Uganda next door.
Apparently, the reason for banning travellers (from, say Tanzania and Kenya) is basically because travellers from the two countries had in the past tested positive for Covid-19 on UAE soil.
We nonetheless call upon the UAE, as fellow members of the Comity of Nations, to revisit their so-called ‘Covid-19 Red List’ arrangements – and let diplomacy prevail, rather than take the world back to what, for all practical purposes, smacks of the apartheid system of operating.
