Posted on May, 5, 2021 at 08:42 am
The government is considering setting up bonded warehouses in foreign markets for agricultural products including China and Saudi Arabia to easy access to markets for locally produced products.
Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Hussein Bashe told parliamentarians in Dodoma on Monday, the state is also eyeing other similar markets in Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
"The government is implementing various strategies that target to obtain markets for locally produced agricultural products including maize. We are also linking maize farmers, for instance, with maize processors for flour and animal feed," he said while responding to a question from special Seats MP Dr Pindi Chana (CCM).
The MP had wanted know the government's plan in obtaining reliable markets for maize farmers in Njombe region.
In addition, Bashe said, the state adopted a strategy under the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) and the Cereals and Mixed Crops Board (CPB) to purchase such maize for state reserve.
The deputy minister cited other strategy as entering into trade agreements between Tanzania and other countries with market opportunities. Such countries, including the DRC, Kenya to South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
"The other alternatives is to ensure exporters have access to transportation services as well as quick clearance."
In Njombe, according to the Deputy Minister, the government has supported linkages between farmers and buyers such as the Silverland company which purchased between 40,000 and 50,000 tonnes of maize in the 2020/2021 season.
Details shows between July and December 2020 farmers sold 89,725.35 tonnes of maize in Kenya, Burundi and the DRC.
CPB on the other hand bought a total of 24,829.17 tonnes of maize from farmers while NFRA bought 73,831.15 tonnes of maize worth 48.42bn/- between May and December 2020.
Source: Daily News