Posted on November, 27, 2018 at 10:34 am
THE Dar es Salaam-based Petrobena East Africa Limited said here that it will cooperate with the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor for Tanzania (SAGCOT) with a view to developing commercial farming in Morogoro.
Speaking on sidelines of the launch of the SAGCOT’s Kilombero Cluster, the company’s Managing Director, Peter Kumalilwa said the presence of the new cluster offers the company an opportunity to play an increasingly important role in advancing Tanzania’s agriculture.
“We will cooperate with other stakeholders within the cluster for the noble goal of growing agriculture and the economy at large,” he said.
The company, he said, has already built a warehouse in Morogoro that is used in storing fertiliser for distribution across the region.
Petrobena is the main supplier for YARA fertiliser in Tanzania.
“We are currently sensitizing farmers about the availability of fertilisers right at their door steps,” he said, insisting that Morogoro remains high on the company’s agriculture development agenda,thanks to its (Morogoro’s) status as Tanzania’s food basket and its closeness to Dar es Salaam.
He said advancing agriculture requires concerted efforts of the government, members of the business community and other stakeholders.
“Agriculture has what it takes to stimulate industrial growth and help Tanzania to realise its dream of becoming a semi-industrialised middle income economy by the year 2025…It is when we produce more and add value to what we have produced that we will be able to realise maximum benefits from our agricultural produce,” he said.
According to the head of SAGCOT clusters, Maria Ijumba, the launch of a cluster in Morogoro will help farmers to benefit from economies of scale and thus adding new impetus to them as they undertake farming as an economic venture.
“The task ahead of us now is to prepare a working plan that will show which crops should be prioritised so that ultimately, farmers can increase production and raise their economic positions,” she said.
The Minister for Agriculture, Japhet Hasunga, graced the launch of the Kilombero Cluster here at the weekend.
The Kilombero Cluster, which basically covers the entire Morogoro Region, is the third one (cluster) for SAGCOT.
Other clusters include: Ihemi Cluster and Mbarali. The former covers Iringa and Njombe regions while the latter covers Mbeya and Songwe regions.
Source: IPP Media