Posted on December, 11, 2018 at 10:24 am
A STUDY conducted by the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania (Sagcot) has unveiled a need by every district in the country to have in place a strategic plan on agriculture, fisheries and livestock.
Presenting a report of the study conducted by Sagcot in collaboration with Local Government and Regional Administration (Tamisemi), study adviser, who is also Bahi District Executive Director in Dodoma Region Leo Mavika, said such a strategic plan would have multiplier effects on the growth and development of sectors.
“It is important that every district in the country puts in place a strategic plan on the sectors of agriculture, livestock and fisheries. It must show, among other things, a mode of engaging the private sector and other stakeholders,” he said.
The adviser explained that according to study findings the sectors of agriculture, livestock and fisheries wouldn’t register significant growth if no district had a strategic plan in place.
According to him the study notes lack of seriousness in the documentation of matters related to development. He thus called for strengthening of cooperative unions, saying apart from helping farmers to improve crop production, it would also help find good prices for their produces as the study showed farmers sold their produce at throwaway prices, which demoralised them.
“Cooperatives are key to liberating farmers, protecting them from being victimised by speculators, who always offer producers poor pay. The cooperatives can also facilitate availability of extension officers for efficiency,” he said.
He also urged the authorities to utilise agricultural centres, which were crucial for improved extension services. He gave an example of a centre in Dar es Salaam and another one in Kakonko District in Kigoma Region, saying both had played an exemplary role as far as training on crop value addition was concerned.
Ansaf Policy and Budget Analyst Joseph Nyamboha said a shortage of extension officers had a negative impact on agricultural, fish and livestock production.
He said there was serious misuse of extension officers as they were tasked with responsibilities other than those related to their field and thus their role in the development of the sectors remained poor.
“The study suggests that availability of extension services is a big challenge. It gives us a feeling that there is an acute shortage of extension officers or rather the one available do not have sufficient working tools.
This study is small. There is a need for a big study to find lasting solutions to problems,” he said.
Source: Daily News