Stop exporting raw hides, skins - TanTrade

DAILY NEWS Reporte

TANZANIA, with the second highest livestock population in Africa after Ethiopia, ironically gains very little from the hides and skins industry because it exports them in raw form.

Addressing a three-day seminar of the industry’s stakeholders here yesterday, the Chairman of the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TANTRADE), Mr Christopher Chiza, said it was ironical for Tanzania to export jobs and other benefits to other countries by exporting raw hides and skins.

In 2015, Mr Chiza explained, Tanzania produced 3.1 million hides, 2.8 million goat skins and 550,000 sheep skins, with a combined value 33 bn/-.

But, he told stunned participants, hides and skins worth 76.3bn/- were exported to Turkey, Italy, Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Singapore and China.

“Only 250,000 pieces were processed locally into products with a total value of 12.5 bn/-,” he said. “Stop exporting raw hides and skins. We are losing many things. Process them here into products and in so doing you will increase national wealth, your own income and create jobs,” he said.

He said Tanzania is the second biggest livestock continental player after Ethiopia. In 2015 it had 25.8 million cattle, 16.7 million goats, 8.7 million sheep.

Yet, he added, the livestock sector makes insignificant contribution to the national economy primarily because of exporting raw products, poor animal husbandry, lack of quality products and awful skinning of hides.

Acting TanTrade Managing Director Mr Edwin Rutageruka said the seminar was organised to help stakeholders appreciate the importance of the sector in creating jobs and increase players’ knowledge and skills in managing animals and livestock products.

“Besides, we want the producers to formalise their businesses and pay taxes.

Hides, skins, textiles and bee products are given priority at the moment,” he said. He said livestock keepers are told to avoid putting indelible marks on animal’s body, instead they should put them on animals’ heads.

The Secretary of the Tanzania Leather Producers Association (Talepa), Mr Timothy Futo said 25 participants attend the seminar and called on authorities to help producers acquire machines for processing hides into value-added products.