Kilimo Kwanza

Tuesday 27 April, 2010

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA

POLICY


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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Tuesday 27 April, 2010

2 EDITORIAL

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Iran set to transfer Italiantechnology to TanzaniaAfter nearly achievingagricultural self-sufficiencyin the 1960s, Iran reachedthe point in 1979 where65 percent of its food hadto be imported. Decliningproductivity was blamedon the misuse of modernfertilizers, but now itsagriculture is developedenough to help others...

The opportunities and challenges oftransforming agriculture in ZanzibarThe developmentof the agriculturalsector has beenidentified as apri-ority for povertyreduction inZanzibar’sStrategy forGrowth andReduction ofPoverty

How can we provide for todaywithout forgetting the future?The single greatestchallenge that agricul-ture faces, is how toincrease food produc-tion sufficiently to feedthe current worldpopulation of 7 billionwithout destroying theresources that subse-quent generation willneed to draw upon.

MPs not yet convinced as Dr Magufuliplans to issue IDs to Tanzanian cattleMEMBERS of Parlia-ment last week sentDr John Magufuli, theminister for LivestockDevelopment and Fish-eries, back to thedrawing board on twobills intended to createa proper regulatoryframework for migra-tory herds of cattle.

The initiative for the rational devel-opment of agriculture throughgrowth corridors is already beingtaken seriously by some countriesin Africa. The latest convert to thecorridor approach is Mozambiquewhere the Beira corridor has takenoff with a lot of promise.

An agricultural growth corridor is developedthrough private – public partnerships that seek toalign productive agricultural units with existing in-frastructure and make viable the delivery of certainservices that would otherwise have been too expen-sive in a normal geographical set up. It also invitesthe improvement of existing and setting up new in-frastructure. For example, a cluster of a few hun-dred farms along a highway that leads to the port ora big city can better support an agricultural suppliesstore, a small bank branch, an electricity line exten-sion, tools workshop, tractor hire service, warehous-es, grain mills and different types of agribusiness.

What is important also is that the ability of suchbusinesses to find a viable market also means thatthe farmers are able to enjoy their services at com-petitive prices, thereby enhancing their capacity togrow, expand and increase the quantity and qualityof their output.

Both the service providers and the farmers areable to enjoy relative economies of scale compared tothe costs they would face if they operated in isola-tion. It also becomes more realistic to market outputfrom such a community than from scattered littleunits.

An agricultural growth corridor does not comeas an alternative or competitor to existing agricul-ture development programmes. It neither competesfor resources nor requires an either/or choice by de-velopment planners. It is not a programme, but an

approach that uses the geographical setting to im-prove rational use of resources, increases the viabil-ity for service provision units as new demand thatwas not there before is generated in the clusters andexposes the farmers to bigger, better markets fortheir produce.

Because it is a public – private partnership, ma-jor investments that the usual risk capital wouldhesitate to fund in new settlements can be support-ed by public and international institutions at firstwith a long-term view of divesting from them whentheir market has matured.

Although an investment blue print earmarksthe required investments along the corridor and inthe clusters for partners to take up, with time in-creased activity attracts other investors who maynot have been there in the beginning. Big industriesare also likely to grow at the ‘end’ of the corridor,basing on a reliable supply of inputs from the corri-dor.

But the story does not end there. Corridors aresupposed to grow out beyond their countries of ori-gin and link up with others in neighbouring territo-ries, further cementing the regional economic inte-gration structures and enhancing their benefits forthe people of the continent.

Wallace MauggoEditor

Give agriculturalgrowth corridors

a chance

Art & Design: KN Mayunga To have your organisation promoted in Kilimo Kwanza, Call: 0787 571308, 0655 571308 0754 571308

By Miki Tasseni

MEMBERS ofParliament lastweek sent Dr JohnMagufuli, the min-ister for LivestockDevelopment andFisheries, back tothe drawing board

on two bills intended to create a proper reg-ulatory framework for migratory herds ofcattle. The bills were the LivestockIdentification, Registration andTraceability Bill, and the Grazing Land andAnimal Feed Resources Bill. The troublewith that assignment is that it isn’t a mat-ter of incorporating a number of reserva-tions, as often those are pointed out inParliament and corrected, but the very in-tention of the bills. It means that the regu-latory or legislative effort is a non-starter.

For once, there is a lesser scope for al-tering the ramifications of the bill to reflectwhat the MPs observed, chiefly those frompredominantly livestock rearing zones ordistricts. Those from mainly agriculturalareas tended to be sympathetic with thebills, seeing in them a certain scope of re-straint on movements of livestock and un-controlled use of real or potential pastures.That has often included grazing on farm-land, without any chance of seeking reme-dies, the resulting situation being a seriesof clashes pitting the two groups.

Contributions from the floor of theNational Assembly by pro-livestock MPstended to emphasize the lack of conformityof the bills with prerogatives that the mi-

gratory herding communities traditionallytake for granted. That is precisely what thebills seek to change but it can’t be expressedin those terms politically; instead the min-ister had to contend, contrary to all evi-dence, that the bills were intended to upliftthe freedom of migratory herds. There wasa strategic point in what he affirmed, with-in a structure of constraints.

Efforts of the government to place thecattle rearing regime in some sort of mod-ernized regulatory structures were viewedwith thinly veiled contempt by MPs fromcattle rearing communities. Benedict oleNangaro (Kiteto-CCM) said that ‘the billshad not considered the fact that pastoral-ists were still using traditional methods totend their animals,’ while the draft laws(regulatory regime) were ‘too advanced.’ Hecontended that ‘pastoralists have no time totake their children to clinics or obtain birthcertificates for them. How can they possiblytake their cattle for registration’? It was abit of a hilarious argumentation.

That in law is to add an offence over an-other and contending that the second can-cels the first, as ordinarily taking expectingmothers to clinics and hospitals need to bemore or less obligatory, as is registeringchildren. The idea that pastoralists ‘have notime’ for that activity is similar to contemptof institutions and observing only what cus-tomary law or routine provides for, and italso suggests ineffectiveness of local gov-ernment and sector policies as a whole.

NGOs shall take note of vast educationeffort still wanted in the area.

Still however it provides a minimum ofreality check on the proposals or legislative

ideas contained in the bills, and an appar-ent breakdown of communication betweenknowledge of ecology – ways of living of apeople and how they organize their house-holds and cattle rearing – and policy mak-ing. For it didn’t need one to take a bill tothe House and be told the basic irrelevanceof registering a migratory herd of cattle,and without being aware that kids of mi-grant herders are scarcely registered atbirth. It was a crying contradiction.

Local Selelii (Nzega-CCM) wasadamant that the bills be taken back to thecommittee level as they did not incorporatethe views of the livestock rearing communi-ties, while his Simanjiro colleague,

Christopher old Sendeka (CCM) waseven more forthright. He rejected the ideaof pastoralists transporting newly borncows and goats to the registrar as the billrequires. He said ‘the bills were not helpfulto pastoralists and could lead to the demiseof pastoralist communities if they werepassed.’ It’s unclear if this too is targeted.

Ole Nangaro had hilariously remarkedthat the bills are ‘some PhD thesis from astudent in Texas brought to guide poorTanzania pastoralists,’ which critics notedtargeted two individuals at once, first the‘cowboy’ ex-US President George W. Bushwho hails fromTexas andDrMagufuli him-self. He was recently awarded a doctoratedegree in chemistry - and would now ap-pear to be applying hismethodology to writ-ing another, for a Texas professor as itwere. It is hard to see how compliance withthe regulation can be expected.

Generalizing claims by MPs like LekuleLaizer (Longido-CCM) that ‘the bills did not

focus on developing the livestock sector andwould only succeed in creating more chaosis they were passed unchanged’ puts at is-sue the sort of consultation engaged. MPsfrom livestock rearing communities insist-ed on continuing with traditional identifica-tion marks vowing to reject the envisagedsystem like putting ear tags on animals. Asa matter of fact these ‘traditional marks’lower the value of hides and skins fromTanzania; stakeholders in the processingand export industries have for many yearsdecried traditional methods.

NGOs which view traditional knowl-edge as more helpful in managing commu-nities and guiding change will see plenty ofsubstance inMPs’ criticisms. Laizer said for

instance that ‘in my community we canidentify over 60 animal colors but veteri-nary officers can identify only four colors.’ Itmeans that government officials can’t bethe basis of usable systems of identifyinganimals, in case cattle theft has taken placeand animals need to be traced. In any casemere ability to identify animals helps noth-ing as it isn’t corroborated.

One feature about the bills was thatthey were overly police-function oriented inwhat they set out to stipulate, virtually in-troducing a ‘pass system’ as in apartheidSouth Africa – making an offence out ofmovement, as vagrancy. When Dr Magufulisaid that under the current system the live-stock keepers aren’t free, he was trying toharness strength out of grief, that whenherders know precisely where to take theircattle, they will not have to face removalsfrom river valleys, etc. The pastoralists onthe contrary wish for all these areas to re-main potentially within reach, not foreclosethem to migratory cattle, by law.

Dr Magufuli and the government forthat matter seem to have been targeting tobring about harmony in how migratory cat-tle relate to farming areas, by some sort ofpolice regime governing migratory cattle.Were it that herders heed advice it wouldremain an extension problem where localofficials would liaise with community eldersamong the pastoralists, but the currentwasn’t passing between herders and peas-ants. In that way it was necessary for aclear regulatory regime to be brought up onmigrating cattle rearing.

The effort at introducing harmony inthe farming vs livestock rearing regime ac-tually fails to solve the problem in both ar-eas, as the two communities can live side byside if each community has more than itneeds.When pastoralists haven’t go enoughland and start encroaching farming land,and peasants have inadequate land sofarming land keeps being expanded, seek-ing a regulatory regime can be difficult. Bythe order of things, what is firstly affirmedby law is farming, and then the rest can beconsidered as grazing land.

But in the final analysis the problem isthat both communities need to change sothat they take up other activities, as theland they depend upon won’t expand, whiletheir numbers expand. However suchchange can’t be put to legislation, only ariseas a consequence of economic mechanismsalready engaged at a macroeconomic level,but they are still at infancy, and can’t breakthe contention between farmers and pas-toralists. The issue isn’t to set out lands foreither farming or pastoralist activity, butrather to extend land to each communityand extend titles so that it can be ex-changed. Pastoralists can then keep cattleon their own land individually, or merge byprivate accord, arbitrated only by thecourts.

Minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries Dr John Magufuli

MPs not yet convincedas Dr Magufuli plans to

issue IDs to cattle

Agriculturalgrowth corridorstrategy� Agricultural growth corridors are one of

the key drivers that will unlock Africa’ssocial and economic growth potential aspart of a integrated approach to agricul-tural development focusing on marketdevelopment, investments in infrastruc-ture and access to finance.

� Significant potential in aligning com-mercially interesting projects involvingboth small and large farmers togetherwith country development agendas, thusattracting the investment capacity, ca-

pabilities and delivery strengths of pri-vate sector investment at scale

� The Agricultural Growth Corridor is anexample is a tangible response to thiscombined need of how it can be done ina coordinated and systemic manner har-nessing value across the whole valuechain, making an impact on millions ofpeople; small and large scale farmersalike.

� The Beira Agricultural Growth Corridorinvestment blueprint presented at theWorld Economic Forum in Davos thisyear provides an excellent example of apublic-private partnership that offersbenefits to all stakeholders, while un-locking the region’s tremendous agricul-tural potential.

� Kilimo Kwanza calls for the private sec-tor to mobilise new investment to pro-mote a modern and profitable agricul-ture sector. It also calls for a transfor-mation of small holder farmers into suc-cessful commercial farmers. TheSouthern Agriculture Growth Corridorof Tanzania (SAGCOT) presents aframework and approach for how thiscan be achieved in line with the KilimoKwanza vision.

� The Southern Agriculture GrowthCorridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) isformed along the trade route and raillinks linking Tanzania to landlockedcountries in South-Eastern Africa.Within Tanzania, the corridor serves theCoast, Morogoro, Iringa, Rukwa andMbeya regions. Internationally, the cor-

ridor reaches largescale industries inthe Northern and Central Provinces ofZambia, Malawi and the KatangaProvince in the Democratic Republic ofCongo and Malawi.

� SAGCOT aims to facilitate the develop-ment of three to four clusters of prof-itable farms and agribusinesses in theSouthern Corridor. Building on existingoperations and planned investments,the clusters will be centred on areas ofparticularly high agricultural potentialand will include nucleus commercialfarms and outgrower schemes; servicedfarm blocks; processing and storage fa-cilities available to commercial andsmallholder farmers; and improved in-frastructure to farms and local commu-nities. The development of the clusterswould be funded through an innovativemix of catalytic public and private sec-tor finance.

� The clusters will benefit the Tanzanianeconomy on a number of levels:– Local entrepreneurs will have the op-

portunity to set up new businesses inthe agriculture services sector – e.g.transportation, storage, processing,marketing.

– Rural communities will benefit fromimproved access to infrastructure(e.g. feeder roads, electricity andpotable water) while also gaining em-ployment opportunities with agricul-tural firms throughout the valuechain.

– Commercial, emergent and small-holder farmers will be able to pro-duce higher yielding crops in areaswhich are not currently heavily pop-ulated, resulting a rapid increase innational production.

– Smallholder farmers will have theopportunity to become emergent orcommercial farmers with affordableaccess to irrigation services.

– A large number smallholder farmerscontinuing to operate under rain-fedconditions will have improved accessto inputs, value-adding services andmarkets.

– The East and Central African regionwill benefit from improved food secu-rity; and the Tanzanian economybenefits from increased tax revenues,and an improved balance of pay-ments.

� Successful implementation of SAGCOTwill help form the basis for a competitiveand sustainable agriculture sector inTanzania, with benefits for millions ofpeople living in the corridor. It will cre-ate hundreds of thousands of jobs andprovide opportunities for tens of thou-sands of smallholders and emergentfarmers to become fully commercial pro-ducers. By helping achieve the vision ofKilimo Kwanza, SAGCOT can con-tribute towards making Tanzania self-reliant in food and an exporter to therest of the world. This will not happenovernight.

Making it happen will require a strongcommitment to change and the perse-verance necessary to ensure successfulimplementation from both public andprivate sector stakeholders.

The Guardian KILIMO KWANZA

COVER STORY


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4 COVER STORY

Taking Off Through Development of Agricultural Growth CorridorsBy Kilimo Kwanza Reporter

While Tanzania hasseveral lucrativesectors like min-ing and tourismthat can yield fan-tastic returns forindividual in-vestors, it is only

agriculture that is capable of causing a ma-jor, general leap forward for the benefits ofthe majority of the population, if handledproperly. But while it is now understood bythe skeptics that concentrating on agricul-ture is the most feasible way to cause aturning point in the country’s developmentprocess, there aremany constraints and thesearch for the optimal way around themcontinues.

One of the more interesting approachesto overcome these constraints is throughthe development of agricultural growth cor-ridors, as is happening elsewhere, the near-est example being Mozambique’s BeiraGrowth Corridor.

Agricultural growth corridors are de-veloped through public-private-partnerships that seek the cheapest andfastest way to align agricultural productiveunits and systems in a situation where vi-tal basics for the sector are still inadequateand would be unaffordable if they were tobe undertaken by any individual entity.The concept therefore seeks the agricultur-al development of geographical belt or re-gion through aligned productive clusterswhose location takes advantage of existinginfrastructure, for easier provision of serv-ices and linking them along transport andtrade routes.

In most areas of Tanzania, the key ele-ments required for the take off of the devel-opment of agriculture are missing. Millionsof individual farmers lack access to basic in-puts like quality seeds which condemnsthem to poor yields from the word go even ifother factors like climate and soil fertilitywere favourable. They cannot afford fer-tilisers which would at least boost quanti-ties produces per hectare. Many cannot getchemicals for pest control, which leavesthem exposed to ruin occasioned by simpleplant and animal diseases for which reme-dies are already known.

Moreover, thousands upon thousandsof agriculture graduates trained at thecountry’s universities remain largely irrele-vant to the farmers as they are not engagedin the agricultural sector where theyknowledge would have been useful. So ap-propriate farming methods are not wide-spread, ability to use fertilisers safely andoptimally not disseminated and measuresto prevent spread of disease often not takenin time.

Other missing basics that would helpordinary farmers to at least start benefit-ting from their sweat beyond mere survivalinclude storage capabilities to protect farmproduce from rapid deterioration.

Proper storage would also go a long wayin stabilizing farm incomes, unlike todaywhere produce sells for extremely lowprices during harvest time and becomes un-affordable to the very farmers who pro-duced it later. Lack of storage capacity is atthe very base of food insecurity, which takesaway the minimal dignity of our peoplewhen they get reduced to begging.

Financial services remain quite farfrom the farmers. SACCOs and microfi-nance institutions have been introduced inmany parts of the country but the interestrates and methods of collection are so dis-couraging, the institutions are more fearedthan sought in some cases. The populationremains under-banked, and even the com-mercial banks are not very keen on fundingagriculture as they are when it comes totrade and industry. The farmers are there-fore left with no avenues to secure capitalfor expansion and remain operating at thesame or even smaller scale over the years.

Tanzanian farmers’ other big frustra-tion is lack of transport mostly due to un-derdeveloped infrastructure. Stories of pro-duce rotting in one region while there is ashortage in another abound every year.

Lack of assembly and servicing capabil-ities for transport engines only exacerbatesthe dilemma of poor or nonexistent roadsand a neglected railway network.

Partly because of poor transport butalso due to low priority agriculture has suf-fered over the years, market outlets forfarm produce are not well developed.Physically, market access infrastructure isunderdeveloped both inland and at thecoast. But also, the marketability of theproduce is undermined because of low pro-cessing (value addition) capacity, whichmakes penetration of more advanced anddistant markets difficult. Inability to pre-serve perishable products is also a highly

limiting factor in marketing Tanzania’sfarm produce. That is why farmers who re-cently ventured into growing apples havebeen frustrated with rotting fruits on theirhands while Dar es Salaam’s supermarketsare teeming with apples imported fromSouth Africa.

Simple but important things like suit-able and attractive packaging have not yetreceived enough attention. Advisory servic-es are almost non-existent. Technical sup-port in key areas like irrigation is inade-quate and soil deterioration that potential-

ly follows uncontrolled flow of irrigationwa-ter is not yet being addressed in advance asit should. Adopting modern methods likedrip irrigation still seam very far off.

How it worksThe development of agricultural growth

corridors addresses all of the above issuesandmanymore. In its most simplified form,a corridor model would have governmentand development partners backing the co-ordination of planning and attraction of an-chor investments and strategic services in

the clusters. Once the buy-in of key playersto form a critical mass have been securedan investment blue print is prepared and itlists exactly required the investments thatneed to be done. These are supposed to betaken up in a coordinated form so that thereis no duplication, while the investor is as-sured of viability of n identified market.

These could be power supply, a bankbranch, fertilizer depot, a tractor servicingcentre etc…

The blue print also clearly shows theactions to be undertaken by different part-

ners ie the government, development part-ners, private companies and the timelinesduring which they should be accomplished.

The approach is intended to enhanceaccess to services and infrastructure that arural farmer would otherwise miss, achieveeconomies of scale for the different units op-erating in the cluster, and make possiblecertain investments in the cluster thatwould otherwise have been unviable withfewer customers Examples of private-pub-lic-partnerships of private companies withgovernment, the donor community and

NGOs include the Ghana GrainPartnership, Tanzania AgriculturalPartnership, Malawi AgriculturalPartnership, Beira Agricultural GrowthCorridor….

The Beira AgriculturalDevelopment Corridor:– Launched last January, the Beira

Agricultural Development Corridorof Mozambique is meant to cover190,000 ha of irrigated agriculturalland, create 190,000 jobs and direct-

Proposed TanzaniaAgricultural Development

Corridor

ly generate one billion US Dollars ayear in revenues.

– It is also expected to earn the govern-ment $50million a year in tax rev-enue, enable 150 villages to get elec-tricity and clean water supply.

– 13,000 smallholder farmers will getaffordable access to irrigation servic-es 200,000 households will have ac-cess to finance, inputs and market fortheir produce.

The Guardian KILIMO KWANZATuesday 27 April, 2010

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6 PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Cleophas Rwechungura,Agricultural Council of Tanzania

The single greatest chal-lenge that agriculturefaces, is how to increasefood production sufficient-ly to feed the currentworld population of 7 bil-lion without destroyingthe resources that subse-

quent generation will need to draw upon.Land and water are the most basic re-

quirements in agricultural endeavors, yetthey are finite. Despite dramatic agricul-tural advances, many millions of people re-main under nourished. Arable land is get-ting scarcer as we continue encroachingmarginal and fragile areas. In the samebreath, the availability of water per caput isdeclining rapidly.

Planners have concluded that the onlypossible response to these constraints is a

strategy of Sustainable Agriculture andRural Development- SARD, which will pro-vide for the present without prejudicing thefuture. In this regard, increases in produc-tion must come mainly from existing landand water managed in a sustainable man-ner.

Agricultural activities that degrade theproductive potential of land and water re-sources by causing soil erosion, water log-ging and salinization of irrigated lands,threaten biodiversity and pollute surface

and groundwater resources, are self- de-feating. Furthermore, pollution of coastaland inland waters, over fishing of theoceans, and extensive deforestation, all costtoo high a price in environmental, socialand economic terms.

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITYInvolving farmers is essential to sus-

tainability. This is a two-way street. Givingfarmers incentives, technical informationand support to enable them manage their

land and water sustainably, and receivingfrom the know-how of farming systems thatcan be adapted to increase yields whilesafeguarding the resource base.

Relatively simple new approaches canhelp to increase food supplies in both devel-oped and developing countries without de-pleting the resources on which they depend,or relying heavily on inputs such as fossilfuels, mineral fertilizers and chemical pes-ticides. Much can be accomplished throughimproving management of the natural re-

sources, by:– Maintaining a diversity of crops and va-

rieties to protect farmers against fail-ure in any one crop, and providing newways of increasing food supplies.

– Diversifying farming systems to makegreater use of the biological and genet-ic potential of plant and animal species.

– Taking advantage of natural processes,such as recycling nutrients and inter-cropping plants that fix their own nitro-gen enrich soil as well as reduce de-pendence on mineral fertilizers.

– Adopting integrated pest management(IPM) techniques, that include con-serving existing natural pests enemies,rotating crops, intercropping, andplanting pest - resistant varieties.When pesticides are quite necessary,they should be used selectively and insmall quantities.

– Switching whenever feasible to renew-able energies, such as biomass, solarand wind- power that are locally avail-able, non-polluting, and have the addedbenefit of creating employment.

RAISING PRODUCTIONFuture food security will depend main-

ly on increasing the productivity of agricul-ture rather than extending the area undercultivation. The technological advanceshave showed the huge potential offered bynew high - yielding varieties of wheat rice,maize and other staple foods.

Largely through the adoption of thesevarieties food production in many of the de-veloping countries outstripped the rate ofpopulation growth.

Increased food production is very muchdependent on the availability of water, ma-chinery, fertilizers, and pesticides. One ofthe most important technologies for in-creased production is irrigation.

Irrigated land is more than twice asproductive as rain -fed cropland.

Thus bringing more land under irriga-tion, could boost production.

However, bad design and poor manage-ment can be counterproductive, resultinginto accumulation of pollutants, and sedi-ments, an ideal habitat for vectors of wa-terborne diseases.

In the current world where more thantwo-thirds of the water withdrawn from theearth's rivers, lakes and aquifers is used forirrigation, less than half of the water di-verted for irrigation actually reaches thecrops. However, new irrigation methodshave been developed that use water moreefficiently through recycling waster andproviding better drainage. Drip irrigationand low- pressure spray systems deliverwater directly to crops, and small dams lo-cated closer to agricultural areas are re-placing large projects that strain the envi-ronment and are costly to maintain.

There is also a question of containingpests that persistently attack field crops.Contemporary sciences make us believes inchemical synthetic pesticides as a panaceato pests attack.

Incidentally, wholesale use of industri-al pesticides has a negative effect to cropproduction and the ecology. It is thereforewise to embark on a sustainable approachto managing pests by combing biological,cultural, physical and chemical methods insuch a way that they pose the least possiblehazard to crops and the environment, at thesame time minimizing production costs.

Agricultural Council of Tanzania is anapex organization having a mandate to un-dertake participative and consultative lob-bying and advocacy role on key private sec-tor agricultural issues on behalf of its mem-bers and stakeholders.

Among ACTsmajor advocacy issues is acampaign directed to increased agriculturalproduction and productivity, while safe-guarding the resource base. It acknowl-edges a need to produce in a judicious man-ner to provide for our needs and for the gen-erations to come.

By Juma Ali Juma

The development of theagricultural sector hasbeen identified as a prior-ity for poverty reductionin Zanzibar’s Strategy forGrowth and Reduction ofPoverty. The potential foragriculture to tackling

greatest economic challenges includinghigh levels of poverty and food insecurity isenormous but has not been realized as thesector is still confronted with dismal per-formance of low growth rates induced by in-adequate investments and inefficient uti-lization of its resources.

The agricultural sector has wide scopeto stimulate expansion of other sectors suchas agro-processing and value addition andmarket linkages to service and trade sec-tors. As such the sector has opportunities tocreate employment and support livelihoodto a large segment of the population.

Increased investment in agriculturewill accelerate the growth of the sector andtherefore facilitate achievement of sustain-able rural and urban livelihood systemsand consequently promote overall food se-curity and economic well-being. The privatesector investment in agriculture would in-stigate diversification and value addition,expansion of exports, creation of employ-ment and wealth, clustering of smallholderfarmers and SMEs and agglomeration ofnon-informal sector in order to integratethem into the global and value chains.

Furthermore, the private sector invest-ments will facilitate interlinkages of agri-culture with other sectors especially theservices such as tourism and trade whichhave registered high rates of growth overthe last decade.

The Revolutionary Government ofZanzibar recognizes the essential role of theprivate sector in achieving agriculturalgrowth and prosperity through investmentin production, marketing and processing.The Zanzibar Agricultural TransformationInitiative advocates for effective privatesector participation through provision of fa-vorable policy and economic environment,promotion of agricultural technology andcollection and dissemination of informationto reduce the risk inherent in agriculturalinvestment. The government is committedto fulfill this vital role in the transformationof agricultural sector.

INVESTMENT IN PRIMARY PRO-DUCTION

Zanzibar has a comparative advantagein the production of cloves, tropical fruits,spices and essential oils. We do not need tooveremphasize the superior quality anddominancy we have enjoyed for our clovesover more than hundred years. This privi-lege has changed drastically over the lastthirty years, and the change has inflictedimmense trouble to our economy and well-being of our people.

The potential to re- capture our positionin cloves and clove-based industries still ex-ists. The private sector investment shouldbe directed to support clove re- planting andrehabilitation through establishment ofsupportive financial institutions, facilitat-ing inputs and investing in intensificationof clove based farming systems throughcontracting smallholder clove farmers forproduction of high value crops such as cin-namon, black pepper and vanilla; productsthat are easily marketable locally, regional-ly and internationally.

The expanding domestic market forfood, especially for livestock, marine andvegetable products is another opportunityfor private sector investment in agriculture.With expansion in the rapidly growingtourism industry and rise of high incomemarket segments, domestic demand forfish, meat, milk, and other high-proteinproducts is likely to grow at a rapid pace.

Currently, the expenditure on food andbeverages in tourist hotels and restaurantsalone stands at 13.8 million USD annually.About 20 percent of fruits, 60 percent ofmeat and 80 percent of vegetables con-sumed in this market are imported fromoutside Zanzibar. The main challenges topenetrate into this market are a weak sup-ply base and inferior quality of our prod-ucts; the challenges that can adequately beaddressed through private sector invest-ment by organizing intensive quality mar-ket driven production through smallholdercontracts.

Smallholder contracting can be done forvegetables, for fruits, for poultry and fordairy farming.

For the fisheries sub sector, there is agreat potential for private sector invest-ment in primary production in deep seafishing and in aquaculture. The Deep Seaprovides substantial investment opportuni-ty in fisheries development towards pro-moting capacity in production, processingand marketing through investing in semi-industrial vessels capable of fishing fordeep water pelagic in contiguous ExclusiveEconomic Zone (EEZ) waters; establishsuitably equipped fish collection/icing cen-

tres in more remote areas, investing in on-shore fish processing industries in compli-ance with local and international marketrequirements.

There is also a great potential for pri-vate sector to invest in aquaculture sub sec-tor in order to increase fish production andimprove its share in boosting national econ-omy and livelihoods.

INVESTMENT IN AGRO PROCESS-ING AND VALUE ADDITION

Zanzibar's agro processing sub-sector iscurrently small and underdeveloped. Thecountry has considerable untapped poten-tial to add value to existing raw materials,agricultural and marine products and drawupon the strong brand associated with theimage of "Zanzibar".

Basically the raw materials for agroprocessing and value addition in Zanzibarcan be sourced from crops, livestock andmarine products.

In terms of crops, food crop commoditiessuch as cassava, sweet potatoes, banana,mangoes, oranges, pineapples and tomatoescan potentially be produced to the amountssufficient for processing and value addition.Huge markets exists both internally and

externally for quality processed productssuch died fruits and vegetables (banana,pineapple, lime, papaya, cassava, sweet po-tatoes, tomatoes, jackfruits, breadfruitsetc); in addition to different preparations ofjam, marmalades, prickles and juices.Appropriate technologies and experiencesfor drying are available including kiln dry-ing, sun drying, electrical drying and solardrying.

The fisheries sub sector has recentlyrecorded a significant increase in fish catchthanks to increased government efforts onconservation of marine and coastal environ-ments. The recent documented reports onfisheries sub sector (2008) indicated thatthe annual fish catch has increased from17,922 tons in 2000 to 23,581 tons in 2007.The report also showed that Zanzibar isproducing 7573 to 7896.6 tons of dry sea-weed annually while its quota in the worldmarket is only 7500 tons per years, mean-ing that 300 to 500 tons remain un-soldevery year. The potential solution for solv-ing this cumbersome quota system de-signed for raw seaweed exports is throughpromoting investments in seaweed process-ing and value addition. Recent study (2009)on assessment of post harvest losses ofcrops, livestock and fish estimated that postharvest losses of fish in processing, preser-vation and notably in storage averages 10percent while the overall loss in the wholevalue chain is estimated at 25 percent peryear. When translated into quantity andmonetary values, the annual loss of fish ac-counts for about 5 thousand tonnes of fish

worth more than Tshs 8.6 billion. It istherefore evident that the fisheries sub sec-tor has potential for further expansion es-pecially in the areas of investment in deepsea fishing and post catch handling andprocessing.

The Zanzibar animal production subsector includes keeping of dairy, beef andpoultry. However, the dairy products have ahighest potential for processing since theyare produced in sufficient amount as a re-sult of increased number of crossbreed cowsand per head milk productivities. Recentfigures showed that the number of crossbred cows is currently close to 29,000 andmilk productivities has recently registeredan upward trend from an average of 7-11lts/cow/day to 14lts/cow/day. Despite thisexciting achievement, farmers are experi-encing difficulties in disposing their prod-ucts. The recent development in thetourism industry has not impacted positive-ly in creating the market linkages for thedomestic livestock products such milk, eggsand beef, mainly because of the inferiorquality and unstable supply base. Thus in-vestment in agro-processing and value ad-dition in livestock industry as envisaged inZanzibar Agricultural TransformationInitiative could be the ultimate solution increating and exploiting new market oppor-tunities for the domestic livestock products.

The writer is the Coordinator,Zanzibar Food Security and NutritionProgramme; Ministry of Agriculture,Livestock and Environment ZanzibarHow can we provide

for today withoutforgetting the future?

Opportunitiesand challengesof agriculturaltransformationin Zanzibar

Water logging and salinization ofirrigated lands threaten biodiver-sity and pollute surface andgroundwater resources

Getting the groundready and (below)passing on therelevant skills

Iran is donating ahundred two-wheel tractors toTanzania for im-mediate deliveryand intends to fol-low this up withmore soonafter.Furthermore,the country isbacking the estab-lishment of factoryfor making suchequipment inTanzania. TheIranianAmbassador toTanzania,Movahedi Ghomiexplains to TheGuardian’s AngelNavuri how hiscountry has madeit in agriculturesince the revolu-tion three decadesago and why hethinks Tanzaniacan exploit itshuge agriculturepotential

Q: Please give us a brief history ofagriculture in your country

A: After nearly achieving agriculturalself-sufficiency in the 1960s, Iran reachedthe point in 1979 where 65 percent of itsfood had to be imported. Declining produc-tivity was blamed on the use of modern fer-tilizers, which had inadvertently scorchedthe thin Iranian soil.

Unresolved land reform issues, a lack ofeconomic incentives to raise surplus crops,and low profit ratios combined to drive in-creasingly large segments of the farm pop-ulation into urban areas.

The 1979 Revolution sought self-suffi-ciency in foodstuffs as part of its overallgoal of decreased economic dependence onthe West. Higher government subsidies forgrain and other staples and expandedshort- term credit and tax exemptions forfarmers complying with government quotaswere intended by the new regime to pro-mote self-sufficiency.

But by early 1987, Iran was actuallymore dependent on agricultural importsthan in the 1970s.

But we pulled together to consolidatethe gains and through good management ofthe available resources, high endeavor, ef-fort and diligence, our agriculture startedrecovering. A lot also depends on peoplehaving self-esteem, which pushes them toseek self-sufficiency.

Q: What specific area is Iran chan-neled in Agriculture sector?

A: The Iran government will provide100 tractors to Tanzania to support the'Kilimo Kwanza' initiative, in the firstphase and more will be delivered.

The tractors venture will later be man-aged by a joint private company betweenthe two countries to be announced soon andwill facilitate all activities in farming, in-cluding carrying the produce to the market.

An assembly plant will be establishedin Dar es Salaam and will provide technicalservices and facilitatemaintenance to thosewho will possess such tractors in the coun-try. “These are diesel engine tractors thatuse four liters to run for 24 hours and are ofItalian make, produced under license by anIranian Company,” he said.

Each tractor including accessories costs4,500 US dollars. One of the main acces-sories of the tractors is a tailor that can car-ry up to 400kg and other parts which ac-company the tractor include lawn and cul-tivating blades.

The tractors have proven to be very ef-ficient because they are widely used in thenorthern part of Iran, where the climate istropical just like Tanzania. The assemblyplant also intends to have a transfer oftechnology plan for the country, so that itcan help the small scale industries in thecountry to produce some of the spare parts.

Q: Any other plans you have for theagriculture sector?

A: We have secured a piece of land forthe construction of a University in thecountry. That piece of land has been allo-cated in Kigamboni area and plans to startthe construction are underway.

The university will be jointly operatedby Tanzanians and Iranians and the em-bassy is working very closely with theTanzania Ministry of Education andVocational Training in putting up the facil-ity. Our companies are also set to invest inthe country in quality seed production andthey will employ people in the farming sec-tor> We also intend to support a vocationaltraining institution for training agricultureexperts and other careers and also reopen-ing the Jihad Agriculture Centre

Q: How do you seee the future ofKilimo Kwanza ?

A: It has a future because Tanzania isblessed with fertile land and many sourcesof water in a way that there is no excuse forthe country not to do well in Agriculture. Ifthe rain that is falling here could be re-ceived in Iran, we would have everythingwe ever desired in our country without anyproblems.

Q:What Advice do you have for theagriculture sector?

A: Agriculture is important in everycountry therefore Tanzania needs to use itsresources well and manage them.

For now what is happening in thiscountry is poor management of resources.The country needs committed officials andflexible management and a good strategythat will plan for the future of agriculturefor Tanzani. But also the governmentshould try and make sure rural roads arebetter for the farmers to transport theirproducts to the market or else the productswill be wasted.

Q: Is Irania assistance, in yourview, leading to self assistance?

A: Making Tanzania to be self sustain-ing, all depends on Tanzanians themselves.They can do it since they have all the re-courses needed, it’s a matter of having a

strategy with good management.Q: What is the state Agricultural

production in Iran today?A: Agriculture’s share of Gross

National Product is about 14 percent,labour market (occupation) 21 percent,Agricultural production 85 million tons in-cluding 62.5 million tons of farming prod-ucts, 13.5 million tons of gardens products,8.6 million tons of livestock products, 455thousand tons of fishery products, iran’splace in terms of the variety of gardens

products it’s the 3rd in the world, interms ofagriculture products among the top 10countries in the world,

Iran holds the first place in the world inproduction of pistachio, saffron, dates,pomegranates, apricots and barberry.

It holds a significant position place inthe world in production of watermelons, cu-cumber, hazelnut, lemon, almond, walnutand raisin. It also holds the produces a lotof green tea leaves, tangerine, melon, can-taloupes, apricots and barberry.


8 WHAT OTHERS SAY

Iran set to transfer Italiantechnology to Tanzania

His ExcellencyMovahedi Ghomi.Below, the twowheel tractiors thatwill cost only$4,500 on theTanzanian market

The $4,500 tractor, implements and trailer

Documents

Kilimo Kwanza