Posted on June, 7, 2021 at 08:30 am
THE government on Thursday put on ice 110/- fee imposed on every kilo of cashew nut sold by farmers who received agro-input support from the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said the new charges was part of the ongoing reforms targeting to develop an efficient and cost effective process of supplying inputs to farmers.
"Let me admit that it has been chaotic since the announcement of 110/- deduction per every kilo of cashew nut brought at the market," he said. "This has been temporarily suspended."
The premier said a meeting bring cashew nut stakeholders, the government and members of the parliament will be held on the 6th. He was optimistic the new gathering will resolve major challenges facing the most exported cash crop in the country.
In 2019, cashew nut production reached 232,700 tonnes and generated 353.1million US dollars.
Initially the prime minister said the industry had also witnessed some resistance form financial institution that pull away their loan schemes to farmers. "We have discussed with the banks and assured them won't be a problem," he said after learning that the decision was accelerated by the government move to supply agro inputs to farmers.
He said the government has already instructed the financial institutions to continue providing loans to support the production chain.
"We are setting up some best systems and we want farmers to have faith," Majaliwa.
Liwale lawmaker, Zuberi Kuchauka (CCM) expressed concerns that the decision to deduct 110/- per every kilo from cashew nut farmers has created a national scare and could affect production. "The farmers are worried of seeking cashew nut inputs," he said.
According to the Prime Minister the government has imported sufficient inputs to cover all the four session before the expected harvesting period later this year.
Source: Daily News