'Agricultural processing industries a must for national development'

By Gadiosa Lamtey

STIPRO Executive Director, Dr Bitrina Diyamett

Agricultural processing industries must be set up if the country is to eradicate poverty, the Science Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organisation (STIPRO) has said.

STIPRO Executive Director, Dr Bitrina Diyamett made the statement, over the weekend in Dar es Salaam during a one day workshop on the organisation’s five year strategic plan on various innovative research initiatives including the Agro-Industrial innovation systems and governance of the national system of innovation.


Dr Diyamett said, the country must set up processing industries to augment agricultural investment.

“This will add value to the agricultural products through the processing of raw materials into final products for local and export purposes,” Dr Diyamett said.

She went on to note that however the country is able to cultivate in abundance is not enough, it must also invest in processing raw products into finished consumer goods.

Further, she said the processing industries will not only add value to the produces but in the process they will also created numerous employment opportunities and increase household returns to farmers lowering national poverty levels.

“We cannot eradicate poverty without innovation especially in agriculture and manufacturing…we should not import agricultural products when we are able to process them ourselves,” she said, noting that “…it is through processing industries that jobs will be created.”

Apart from developing processing industries, Diyamett said farmers must be linked to reliable markets.

Commenting on STIPRO’s contribution to the country’s agricultural sector, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech) Director General, Dr Hassan Mshinda, said STIPRO has continued to do a commendable job.

He said the outcomes of their researches are not only important in the formation of development policies but also extremely useful in continuous refining of innovation indicators.

“STIPRO has proved to be one of the major facilitators in the transformation of economies, creation of employment and promoting inclusive development,” Dr Mshinda said. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN