Nourishment is a right: State should modernise agriculture

By Editor

 “The most important security is that of the stomach," Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), declared at the opening of the conference on agriculture and agro-industry, "Feeding Africa", held in Dakar, Senegal from October 21-23, this year.

 

Adesina declared that Africa is ready to transform agriculture into a commercial enterprise and Tanzania is no exception.

 

Our own MPs in July, this year  bemoaned the inadequacy of investment in the country’s agricultural sector, fearing that the development could lead to food insecurity in Tanzania.

 

The MPs have thus urged government to put in emergency interventions to enable increased food crop production to nip the threat of food crisis in the bud.

 

It is important that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives    enhances  the capacity of farmers in modern agricultural practices, improve existing irrigation facilities and build additional infrastructure to increase food production.

 

Nevertheless, such a transformation can only take place through the diversification of the agricultural sector. We also underline  that being able to feed oneself, in sufficient quantities and with quality food, is a right for each and every human being.

 

Tanzania should be the food basket of the East African region, but  in order to be so, we have to unleash our full potential and therefore undergo a radical transformation of our agriculture. Agro-industry is a sector which can create four times more employment than any other sector.

 

According to estimates, the bill for importation of foodstuffs into Africa comes to US $35 billion a year. For this reason, the AfDB President is encouraging Africans to develop their agricultural sectors and to use the budget allocated to food imports elsewhere.

 

He called upon both the central banks and development banks to provide loans to the sector. "Offering credit to farming is profitable."

  

In the same vein, we also call for significant investment in rural infrastructure.    

 

African agriculture must modernise. The AfDB President wants young people to invest in the sector and he asks that women, who have a large presence in the sector, be given help to access land. Even better than that, the AfDB and its development partners are going to commit US $300 million to financing a support fund for women who work in the agricultural sector in Africa.

 

In order to respond to the need to modernise African agriculture, we are calling for investment in transformation of the sector, a means of development in the sense that it helps to reinforce food security, reduce poverty, stimulate exports and further economic recovery.

 

All in all, the ministry's main mission should be to deliver quality agricultural and cooperative services, provide conducive environment to stakeholders, build capacity of local government authorities and facilitate the private sector to contribute effectively to sustainable agricultural production, productivity and cooperative development.