Posted on October, 17, 2017 at 11:06 am
THE Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) has assured small traders selling spices of reliable market yet connecting them on global opportunities.
The Acting Executive Director of TanTrade, Mr Edwin Rutageruka said this shortly after a tour of Vegeta Podravka LTD in Bagamoyo, Coastal Region yesterday. He promised to come up with a strategic plan to help entrepreneurs to send their goods to the factory.
“I have held talks with the management of Vegeta, they have informed me that their production stands at 2.5 tonnes per day but the factory has the capacity of producing 7.5 tonnes of spices per day, this is an opportunity for traders to feed the factory with raw materials,” Mr Rutegaruka said.
He added that, for now the factory that was launched in December 2017 following a move by the government to promote industrial economy is forced to acquire some of the raw materials abroad due to scarcity of the same in the country.
“We have agreed with the management of the factory to connect them with farmers and traders of ginger, pepper, cardamom and other spices on a condition that the raw materials should be certified by Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA),” said Mr Rutageruka.
The Manager of the factory, Mr Archard Ngemela advised spices farmers to find ways of producing quality goods and make sure they add value to their farm produces in a bid to be able to compete in the market. “Spices business is international, so the production continue throughout the year but also the products should be of high quality to meet international standards.
Therefore when we enter a contract with a supplier we would love to be assured of adequate supply throughout the year,” he said. Mr Ngemela added, “We should stop undermining ourselves because Tanzania is one of the larger producer of spices in Africa, but many farmers have been faced with challenge of quality and low capacity of production”.
In another development, Mr Rutegaruka has promised to engage various authorities in the move to ensure that many entrepreneurs and farmers are supported to access market opportunities and increase the quality of their spices.
“We have heard the way at which investors are concerned with the quality of local goods, but also their concern of low production capacity which is due to the lack of technical knowhow and low capital.
Therefore the idea of engaging authorities such as TBS, TFDA as well as Small Industries Development Organisation, Tanzania (SIDO) is vital,” he said. TanTrade in collaboration with various authorities has conducted various training programmes and already more than 200 spices farmers and traders have been trained in Morogoro Region.
Source: Daily News