Posted on November, 16, 2018 at 11:07 am
EFFORTS to check deadly aflatoxin contaminations which kill thousands of Tanzanians annually got a big boost yesterday, thanks to agreements between the government and African Development Bank (AfDB).
Under the agreement signed in Dar es Salaam, the government will receive from the bank 33 million US dollars (about 75bn/-) to finance projects that address the aflatoxin problem in the country.
Out of the total amount, 20 million dollars were given as grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme through the bank. The government will receive the remaining USD 13 million as soft loan from the African Development Fund (ADF) also through the bank to contain the aflatoxin.
The two parties also signed another 123 million dollar (over 280bn/-) loan agreement for construction of the North-West Grid (Nyakanazi-Kigoma) transmission line. The project to contain aflatoxin—the initiative for the Prevention of Aflatoxin Contamination (TANIPAC)— is expected to minimise aflatoxin occurrence in the food system.
The project supports improvements of pre and post-harvest technology and management practices, including establishment of central agriculture reference laboratory, among others.
It will be implemented in 11 districts in 10 regions of Tanzania mainland and two in Zanzibar, with maize and groundnut as targeted crops. “This is very important intervention because if not controlled, the aflatoxins may bring more disaster in future,” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning Doto James said shortly before signing the documents.
AfDB’s Country Manager Alex Mubiru said available data indicate that 3,334 cases and 3,167 deaths result from aflatoxin exposures, leading to the loss of 96,686 disability adjusted life years annually.
And it is also estimated that the annual financial impact resulting from the illness and loss of life could be as high as 264 million US dollars. Speaking over the support to Nyakanazi-Kigoma transmission line, he said the project aims at improving supply, reliability and affordability of electricity in Kigoma region by providing access to the main grid and contributing to the socio-economic transformation of the region.
The support will mainly focus on three key activities—construction of 280-kilometre 400KV transmission line from Nyakanazi to Kigoma and extension of Nyakanazi substation and construction of the new substation at Kigoma.
It will integrate the existing Kigoma and Kasulu 33KV distribution networks with the main grid and supply ‘last-mile’ connection materials to serve at least 10,000 new customers in the region.
“This is a milestone project for Kigoma which has never been connected to the national grid since independence,” noted Mr James. The project will further contribute to Tanzania Electric Supply Company’s financial sustainability by addressing high-energy production costs.
Source: Daily News