Annan Spells Out Ways to Boost Farming

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Peter Nyanje

3 April 2011

The former UN secretary general, Dr Kofi Annan, has singled out three areas that the government should concentrate if it is to transform agriculture.

He mentioned the three areas as policy on seed, financing of agriculture and increased assistance.Speaking after concluding a two-day visit of Mbeya Region, Dr Annan advised the government to look into the seed policy in order to have mechanisms to enable more farmers to access improved seeds.

Noting that only 20 per cent of farmers in the country access quality seeds, Dr Annan said Tanzania would witness a lot of changes in the sector if the percentage rises to at least 90 percent.

Dr Annan was in Mbeya for a two-day visit in his capacity as chairman of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), an institution that seeks to assist African countries to improve seed security.

Among others in his entourage were two members of the Agra board and several executives. They visited a number of Agra funded projects in Mbeya Region, including Uyole Research Institute, which focuses on producing high quality seeds.

“Currently only 20 per cent of Tanzanian farmers access quality seeds and we have seen improvements in the case of those who use such seeds. Things will change tremendously if we increase this to at least 90 per cent,” he said when answering a question from The Citizen on areas which the government and other partners should focus to improve agriculture.

For its part, the government aimed at changing the current seed policy in order to cut down bureaucracy and speed up access of quality seeds to farmers countrywide, according to the minister for Water and Irrigation, Prof Mark Mwandosya, who represented the minister for Agriculture during Annan tour.

Prof Mwandosya noted that since seeds were the basis for improved agricultural production chain, the government has seen the importance of changing. Detailing on what the government was doing on seed policy, the assistant director for Agricultural Inputs at the Ministry of Agriculture, said an improved policy would be ready by June.

He pointed out that the current policy requires seeds development to go through a number of processes and institutions before it reaches the farmer. “What we are going to do in the new policy is to make sure that the seeds goes from breeders directly to producers under close supervision of then Agricultural Seeds Agency (ASA),” he said.

On Friday, Dr Annan said commercial farming is the way to go if agriculture is to improve lives of farmers and the national economy as envisaged.He made the remarks here shortly after arriving for a three-day tour of Mbeya region to visit agricultural projects supported by Agra, which he founded and currently chairs.

“Agriculture should be improved across the production channel, from small holder farmers to big companies which produce inputs, and marketing as well,” Dr Annan said after a briefed by the Mbeya Regional Commissioner, Mr John Mwakipesile, on the progress of Agra-supported projects in the area.

The former UN chief stressed that as far as agriculture remains the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, there was a need to improve it for the benefit of the majority. He noted that improved agriculture should aim to guarantee food security, from the family to national level, with plans to commercially dispose the surplus.

“Agriculture can make a difference in the lives of farmers with appropriate investment,” he said. In his briefing, Mr Mwakipesile said that Mbeya Region had started to record improvements in the sector following Agra interventions.

“Agra support in this region has been crucial. The results obtained so far are positive, although the programme is still at its infant stage,” he said.

Elaborating, Mr Mwakipesile noted for instance that Agro Input Programme, aims at improving access to improved agricultural inputs by smallholder farmers, has increased the number of trained agro dealers operating at the village level. He said the trend has helped to reduce the distance travelled by farmers in search of farm inputs from an average of 30km to less than 16km.

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