Posted on August, 10, 2016 at 10:56 am
Mbeya — The Alliance for A Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has called for greater adoption of technology in agriculture for smallholder farmers for assurance of continued national food security and surplus production for the market.
AGRA Country Head for Tanzania, Dr Mary Mgonja, made the call while addressing a joint press conference on Sunday at John Mwakangale Grounds in Mbeya. She said she was optimistic about the future of agriculture in Tanzania as the best means available to lift millions of smallholder farmers from poverty.
AGRA in Tanzania has invested in key programmes along the food value chains to develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment."Tanzania is a priority country for AGRA.
Since 2006, AGRA has funded 96 grants to support agriculture valued at over USD 51m," she said. According to Dr Mgonja, the grants have played a great role in addressing the challenges small-scale farmers face across the agriculture value chain, from seeds and soils to markets, access to finance and policy.Some of the results of the investment have been the introduction of improved seed varieties, better fertilizers, post-harvest handling and storage technology for grains and innovative agricultural finance, among other outputs.
"I urge more and more farmers to adopt new technology in agriculture - ranging from improved seeds to storage technologies, which if adequately used, could increase production and halt wastage after harvest. It's the key to economic liberation for small farmers," she noted.
Since the introduction of PIC bags, about three companies are involved in manufacturing, and hundreds of agro dealers are marketing those hermetic storage technologies reaching hundreds and thousands of farmers.
Dr Mgonja also hailed the government of Tanzania for making progress in improving agriculture policy environment to address challenges faced by stakeholders in the sector.
"AGRA will continue collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to ensure AGRA activities align with the government's agriculture initiatives," she said. She added that AGRA support at the moment was aligned to government's Big Results Now and the Kilimo Kwanza initiative in as far as agriculture development is concerned.
source:allafrica