Posted on August, 6, 2021 at 08:13 am
TRADITIONAL leaders of Mbeya have applauded Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) for supporting local farmers and investors in the country.
The leaders said this during a visit to one of TADB's beneficiaries, Raphael Group Limited in Mbeya Uyole area. Speaking during the excursion, the head of traditional leaders in Mbeya township and rural, the Chief of Wasafwa tribe, Rodrick Mwashinga, praised TADB for investing in Raphael Group Limited, one of the leading food grains processors and distributors in the Southern Highlands region.
"I would like to thank TADB for empowering local farmers and businessmen in the region. This proves the bank's trust in homegrown investors, and its commitment in supporting local communities to bring about socio-economic development through agriculture," said Chief Mwashinga.
"My plea to the bank is to continue to extend its services to more local farmers and investors, so that they can build more agro-processing plants like this one, create assured markets for farmers produce, employ community members, and overall, contribute to the development of the region and the national economy." Speaking on TADB's investment in Raphael Group Limited, the Bank's Zonal Manager for the Southern Highlands Region, Alphonce Mukoki, said that the bank has supported the company to purchase an 80 metric tonne per day rice processing machine, a grain dryer and colour sorting machine.
Apart from that, the bank has also provided the company with working capital to procure paddy and beans from over 13,000 smallholder farmers in Mbeya and surrounding regions.
Mukoki also reiterated the bank's commitment in supporting local farmers and investors in order to bring about agricultural transformation and socio-economic impact in the country.
"Our goal as a development finance institution is to empower local farmers and investors with useful technology and working capital to not only up-lift their businesses but to make an impact across the respective agri-value-chain," said Mukoki.
He added, "Our intervention in Raphael Group Ltd. is a clear example of the good work that we are doing to transform this important sector in line with the government's newly launched Five-Year Development Plan III."
According to TADB, the bank has already invested over 20 billion shillings in the Southern Highlands zone, in the regions of Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Ruvuma, and Songwe, across 18 value-chains, with leading investments in paddy, cocoa, maize, and coffee.
Source: Daily News