Posted on November, 28, 2018 at 09:59 am
By Correspondent in Morogoro
THE Minister for Agriculture, Japhet Hasunga, has said that the government would continue to create an enabling environment that attracts more investors in the sector.
Launching the new Kilombero Cluster for the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor for Tanzania (Sagcot) recently, Mr Hasunga said the overall goal of the government was to transform the sector for the betterment of the country's economy.
"This would ensure the sector plays a pivotal role in Tanzania's industrialisation," the minister added, noting that the growth and development of agriculture would stimulate growth of other sectors of the economy at the same time.
"We will continue to create an enabling environment for agriculture to thrive... We will transform the sector in such a way that small-scale farmers are able to get all their required farm inputs.
"At the same time, we will thrive to create the middle level of farmers, while also attracting large-scale investments," he noted.
The Kilombero Cluster, which basically covers the entire Morogoro Region, is the third one (cluster) for Sagcot.
Other clusters include Ihemi Cluster and Mbalali, where the former covers Iringa and Njombe regions, and the latter covers Mbeya and Songwe regions. Three more clusters are in the pipeline.
He said the Ministry of Agriculture would soon convene a meeting that would bring together all stakeholders for a dialogue on how to develop the sector for the country's economic benefit.
"The idea would be to bring all stakeholders to a forum so that they can talk on how we can develop the sector," he said. The Kilombero Cluster launch was also attended by Mr Hasunga's two deputies: Mr Innocent Bashungwa and Mr Omari Mgumba as well as Regional Commissioners (RCs) for Mbeya, Iringa and Morogoro, among other notable guests.
Iringa Regional Commissioner (RC) Ali Hapi and his Mbeya counterpart, Albert Chalamila, spent some time detailing how Sagcot had helped to attract agricultural investments in their areas, and how it had transformed small-scale farmers from subsistence into commercial levels.
Source: Daily News