Stakeholders want improved agriculture extension services to boost output

Daily News Reporter

AGRICULTURAL stakeholders yesterday pushed for wide dissemination of relevant agriculture related information to transform the sector which is widely touted as the backbone of the national economy.

“We have to improve extension services to equip our farmers with the right information regarding what, when and how to produce for what market at what price,” Tanzania Horticulture Association (TAHA) Executive Director Jackline Mkindi told the Agribusiness Congress East Africa in Dar es Salaam.

She said market structures, systems and infrastructure, though critical in the development of agriculture in the country, were still lacking. Ms Mkindi said the government and private sector need to come together and work harmoniously, especially on policy issues, to support especially small players in the sector.

“We have to come together all of us, irrespective of our diverse professions to work for the common good of developing agriculture,” said Ms Mkindi, inquiring why lawyers and insurers, the critical partners in mitigating risks in agriculture, were not effectively involved in the conference. Only one lawyer and one insurer were present when the TAHA chief raised the issue.

Speaking at the conference, the sector stakeholders decried the high risks associated with agriculture in the country, denouncing the excessive dependency on rain water as a serious impediment to prosperity of the sector.

Mbeya-based farmer Charles Chenza said weather and market prices were subjecting agricultural producers to tricky situations. “If the weather is good we get bumper harvests but unfortunately the prices collapse but when the weather is bad, the prices rise but yet we have nothing to sell,” he said, asking for the government intervention to mitigate the risks that condemn farmers to perpetual poverty.

With over 75 per cent of Tanzanians reported to have employed themselves in agriculture, the sector holds the key to reduce poverty amongst the citizens. And, according to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Florens Turuka, the government strives to transform agriculture into a lucrative undertaking, with great potential of making people rich.

“Our vision is to make agriculture an attractive sector to majority people, especially the youth,” Dr Turuka told reporters at the sidelines of the conference, noting that many people were snubbing agriculture due to the high risks involved