Railway transport for fertiliser launched

FLORENCE MUGARULA

IT is now all smiles for Tanzanian farmers after a fertiliser production company ‘YARA Tanzania Limited’ announced between 35 and 40 per cent reduction of fertiliser transportation cost following the launching of railway transport services on Tuesday.

Speaking during the launching of fertiliser rail transportation from Dar es Salaam to upcountry, YARA Director General, Mr Alexandre Macedo said inland transport cost has been contributing to the increase of fertiliser prices in various regions.

He said transporting fertiliser from factories in Europe to Dar es Salaam port cost only 40 US dollar per tonne, but it cost 100 US dollar to transport the same from Dar es Salaam to Tabora by using road transport.

Mr Macedo said with rail transport, the total operation cost is cheaper. He said the company has responded to the government call to reduce fertiliser price and enable farmers across the country to engage in productive agriculture.

“We are doing everything in our powers to respond to the government request to reduce fertiliser prices, it has been very expensive to transport fertiliser from Dar es Salaam to other regions by road,” he said. He added that another challenging factor is the big number of intermediate, which include middlemen operations. He said the company is working closely with the government to solve the problem.

“We are working with the government to see how we can address this problem together, we need to take fertiliser to farmers at affordable price,” he said. According to Mr Macedo, his company has entered a contract with Tanzania Railway Limited (TRL) and that it can now transport between 800 and 1000 tonnes of fertiliser from Dar es Salaam to various regions at affordable price and on time. The company plans to transport at least 10,000 tonnes of fertiliser by using railway line per month.

He said YARA is satisfied with TRL services and that it initially tested the system by transporting a test cargo and found out to be not only fast, product safety guaranteed but also the products arrived in good condition. On October 14, this year, YARA loaded fertiliser consignment to 20 TRL wagons.

The consignment reached Tabora on October 10, this year. “TRL is an efficient company, they are reliable and capable of performing their duties without problems, YARA is confident that with this new strategy agriculture sector will record good performance in near future,” said Mr Macedo.

TRL’s deputy acting operational manager, Mr Focus Sahani said TRL has constructed a 600 metres railway line to YARA plant, where its locomotives and wagons load fertiliser directly from the firm’s warehouses. He said the company has invested 55m/- in the construction of the 600 metres railway line to the company’s loading site.

Mr Shani said TRL is efficiently offering quality and reliable services to YARA. He invited other companies to borrow a leaf from YARA so as to enjoy reliable transportation services in their businesses. “We are also inviting cement, oil and other companies to use TRL services,” he said.

He assured other companies that TRL has new engines, wagons and competent workers to offer quality and reliable transportation services. He said giant customers including GBP Oil Company in Tanga have already started using TRL.

Moreover, Mr Emmanuel Lyimo, a representative from Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) said using railway line to transport fertiliser is one of best strategies to cut down fertiliser cost and enable farmers to access the product at affordable price.

“We support these efforts and probably farmers will now manage to buy fertiliser and increase agriculture production,” he said. YARA terminal is part of SAGCOT flagship projects in Tanzania, whose cost efficient logistics is supported by and TRL connection.

Earlier this month, Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Charles Tizeba told participants of the second African fertiliser agribusiness conference, which took place in Dar es Salaam that the government was looking forward to establish bulk procurement system in the importation of fertilisers as one of measures to regulate prices and boost agriculture production in the country.

According to Dr Tizeba, bulk procurement in the fertiliser sector will enable the government to set indicative price for fertilisers in the country and thus regulate unusual increase of prices from time to time.