DODOMA: DEPUTY Minister for Agriculture, David Silinde has insisted on the
government mission to ensure good market for vanilla and coffee, a move that aims at curbing crop smuggling.He said the coffee and vanilla business is now through auctioning and that the government is doing everything in its power to look for investors who will be able to set up a processing factory for value addition.
According to Mr Silinde, the factories will help growers to get better prices for their produces. He said the government has also instructed coffee growers and cooperatives to sell the coffee through official auctioneers expressing its commitment to stop smuggling.
“Tanzania Coffee Board, the official auctioneer and growers are required to sell their produce only through farmers’ co-operatives. The selling of coffee directly from farms has been banned” he said.
Thus, he said, coffee farmers and co-operatives in the country have started selling their produce only through the annual coffee auctions and in return benefit from the growing global coffee market and to stop the rampant coffee smuggling to neighbouring countries by individual growers.
He said so far almost 23 dealers and three AMCOS were granted permission to buy dry cherry and certified coffee in Kagera Region in the 2023/24 auctioning season. Mr Silinde gave the clarification in response to a question posed by Anatropia Theonest who wanted to know the companies that have been certified to buy coffee in Kagera Region.
ALSO READ: Dar es Salaam can use EPZ to grab Shanghai’s coffee market in China
He named the traders for dry cherry as Tanin Global Limited, Blue Effort, Nkuban International Co Ltd, Amri Amir Al-Habssy, Karagwe Estate Ltd, Source of the Nile Commodities Ltd, Kyejus Coffee Co Ltd, KCU Ltd, Kongeru Tanzania Ltd, Ubumwe Crops Co Ltd and Zuraja Trading Company Ltd.
Others are Tanzania Quality Coffee Ltd, J.K Supplies and Consultancy Company, Megnacio Company, OTM Trading Co Ltd, Mweru and J Coffee, Shayakye Trading Co Ltd, Izigo Coffee Ltd, Jocta International, Azania Fresh Food Industry Ltd, Johansen Co Ltd and Atadals Group Ltd.
For the certified coffee, the endorsed companies are Kaderes Peasants Development Plc, Karagwe Estate Ltd, and Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS) namely KCU ltd, Juhudi, Nkwenda and Mkombozi. Addressing a recent meeting of coffee farmers in Dodoma, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced that all coffee will be sold through government supervised auctions.
“Coffee will be sold through auctions only. No licences should be provided to traders to buy coffee in villages. If there are companies that have people in the villages with cash for that purpose, they should recall them as soon as possible,” Majaliwa said.
Coffee regulations in Tanzania are undergoing major changes which are intended to improve profits for farmers and extend their role in the supply chain.
The government has banned the purchase of cherry or parchment at the farm-gate level. Farmers must now sell cherry or parchment to an Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS), which will deliver the coffees to auction for purchase. Coffees, then, will be traceable to the AMCOS.
No comments :
Post a Comment