Tuesday 8 March, 2011

kilimokwanza@guardian.co.tz

SUPPORTING THE PROMOTERS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION

LINES DRAWNOVER NILE WATERS

By Makuna Chirimi

Forcenturies theGreatNilehas flown through a land-scape dotted with povertyand turmoil. The Nile is atranquil and gentle giant,fed by a huge network of

rivers and lakes. The 4,160-mile-longNile is formed by the White Nile, whichoriginates from Lake Victoria inUganda, and the Blue Nile, which be-gins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Theyconverge in Khartoum, Sudan and flownorth through the length of Egypt be-fore spilling into the MediterraneanSea.

The United NationsEnvironmental Program (UNEP) notesthat water scarcity will be at the fore-front of the international agenda fordecades to come. That in some caseswater may be a contributing factor ininternational conflict.

UNEP also notes that historically,there is little evidence that waterscarcity has caused violent conflict. Inmany cases, water has been used as astrategic goal or target, as part of mili-tary activities. There have howeverbeen many disputes over water withinnations. In Tanzania for example,onion farmers in Karatu district some-times resort to fist fights to resolve wa-ter conflicts with their neighbours.

Lake Turkana which straddlesEthiopia and Kenya is also a flashpointfor armed conflict between opposingsides as the lake recedes southwarddue to global warming. UNEP notesthat the probability of violent conflictover water appears to vary inverselywith the size (and type) of the politicalbodies involved. The InternationalRivers Network (IRN) now classifiesthe Nile Basin as a global hotspot forpotential water conflict.

According to the Nile BasinInitiative, the Niles discharges an aver-age of about 300 million cubic meters ofwater per day. Previously, thanks to a1929 colonial treaty with Britain,Egypt had veto rights over all up-stream projects on the Nile. Egypt'ssubsequent 1959 deals with Sudan alsogave the two countries control of 90percent of Nile waters and allowed thecountries access to 55.5 and 18.5 billion

cubic metres of water, respectively,every year.

But the Nile does not flow throughEgypt and Sudan alone. Ethiopia.Uganda. Tanzania. Kenya. Rwanda.Burundi. The Democratic Republic ofCongo. TheNile Basin covers about tenpercent of the African continent, anarea of about 3.1 million sq kms. It ishome to about 160 million people all ofwhom depend on agriculture.

The six upstream countries havenow stamped their foot. They are goingto use the Nile’s waters, with or with-out Egypt’s approval. The six havesigned an accord that not only stripsEgypt of its rights to the Nile, but alsoallows each country's parliament toratify the Nile ‘Cooperative FrameworkAgreement’ (CFA) deal. The CFA docu-ment had been left open for one year –until May 13, 2011, to particularly giveSudan and Egypt a chance to changetheir mind and sign. They didn’t,haven’t and indications are that theywon’t.

But with Burundi appending theirsignature to the document last week, itno longer matters if they do or don’t.“We can now move forward with ratifi-cation of the deal,” Daniel Meboya, theregional spokesman at the Entebbe-based Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) thatled the negotiations, is quoted saying.Congo’s position on the CFA hasn’tbeen determined yet.

The CFA seeks to establish a per-manent Nile River Basin commissionthat will set clear procedures on watersharing and decide on all river projectsin the region. The pact replaces the twocolonial-era treaties which supported

Sudan and Egypt but are deemed un-fair by other sevenNile basin countries.

The CFA states that the commis-sion will resolve the issue of water se-curity in its first six months of opera-tions and implement measures thatwould provide enough water for all up-stream countries without reducingSudan and Egypt’s share.

The Sudanese Ambassador toTanzania, Abdelbagi Kabier noted thatwater is a very sensitive issue. “I can-not speak for Egypt but I am not awareof any change in position concerningthe use of the Nile waters. This matteris governed by treaties. We have to ne-gotiate and reach a position that is use-ful for all parties involved,’ he said in arecent interview with The Guardian.

However Tanzania already has inplace a 1,755 km of water pipelinedrawing water from Lake Victoriathrough on to Mwanza and Shinyangaregions. The second phase of the projectis to cover the regions of Tabora andSingida by 2025.

Ethiopia's new $520-million Tana-Beles hydroelectric plant on the banksof Lake Tana was built without Egypt'sapproval. The country has insistedthat is will build whatever it pleasesalong the river and tributaries and con-tinues to entice investors to the newlyirrigated farmland. Reports say thatEthiopia plans to build four new damson the Nile in addition to the plannedTekeze Dam (30 billion cubic meters ofwater) and the Border Dam (14 billioncubic meters of water). These newdams could constitute a threat toEgypt’s water security, sources cited byEgyptian newspaper, AlmasryAlYoum

warned.Following the signing of the CFA,

the online edition the daily also quotedsources within the Egyptian Ministryof Irrigation calling for the establish-ment of a legal committee mandatedwith "preserving Egypt’s historicalright to Nile water" and "restoringEgypt's leading role in the Nile Basin."

Past rhetoric along the Nile has attimes bordered on threats of open ag-gression, with Egypt, Uganda andEthiopia exchanging barbs.Commenting on its plans to buy sixmilitary jet fighters from Russia “if itgets the money to do so”, an official ofthe Ugandan government once com-mented it was partly in response toNile threats.

"The way forward," EthiopianPrime Minister Meles Zenawi once toldthe Al Jazeera TV channel, "is not forEgypt to try and stop the unstoppable."He questioned why Egypt, a countrydevoid of forests, had an elite armysquad specially trained in jungle war-fare.

"Egypt deals with the Nile water is-sue as a life-and-death matter," Egypt'sformer Minister of State for Legal andParliamentary affairs, Moufid Shehab,is quoted saying. "This is a national se-curity issue," Egyptian officials havebeen reminding the upcountry partnersover the years.

Sudan has appealed to all parties tohold more consultations with a view offinding a common ground. “More con-sultations are needed. There is so muchwater along the Nile basin. Effortsshould be geared towards managing allthe water resources available which is

a better solution than scrambling forreadily available resources,” theAmbassador urged.

Tanzania was more reticent. “Letme correct the perception that there isdisagreement. All countries have beeninvolved in the ten year negotiationsand have agreed on most of the issuesincluding trans-boundary sharing ofwater resources,” Tanzania’s Ministerfor Water and Professor MarkMwandosya said.

Admitting that Egypt and Sudandid not agree on the contentious issueof water security, the minister washopeful though that “The Nile watersare usually very tranquil and we expectthat it will remain so. The Nile joins allour countries.”

Admittedly there are high lossesthat still need to be addressed.Evaporation from Egypt’s Aswan Damis estimated 10 billion cubic meters ofwater annually, which some arguecould be saved if a dam was built in thenarrow gorges of the Ethiopian high-lands.

Egypt’s irrigation system couldsave another 6 billion meters if some ofthe 13.4 billion meters that currentlyflows into the Mediterranean Sea wereutilized and a further 5 billion meterssaved if Egypt ended its project to irri-gate the Tushka Desert.

However billions of litres of waterfalls as rain in the countries that aredemanding to use the Nile waters. Thisclean rain however runs off into drainsand sewers, joins streams flows out tosea, or to simply left alone to evaporate.

Water covers about two-thirds ofthe Earth's surface, but most is toosalty for use. The amount of usable wa-ter in the world is very limited. Only2.5% of the world's water is not salty,and two thirds of that is locked up inthe icecaps and glaciers. Humans haveavailable less than 0.08% of all theEarth's water. Of that about 20% is inremote areas, and much of the rest ar-rives at the wrong time and place, asmonsoons and floods.

We use about 70% of the water wehave in agriculture. But the WorldWater Council believes that in just nineyears we shall need 17% more waterthan is available if we are to feed theworld. Water needs are estimated to in-crease by about 40% in the next twentyyears.

Everyone knows that Egypt andSudan are heavily dependent on theNile. Egypt for example currentlydraws over 90 percent of its waterneeds for its population of 80millionfrom the Nile. Forecasts indicate thatthe country will be unable to meet itswater needs by 2017.

According to the United Nations, in2008 the per capita gross national in-come in was $2030 in Egypt and $1699in Sudan. It was $318 in Ethiopia. $495in Tanzania. $490 in Uganda. $453 inRwanda. $134 in Burundi and $144 inCongo.

While water now plays a key role ineach country’s efforts to gain socio-eco-nomic parity, we all need to act sensiblyand to safeguard the peace, securityand socio-economic development of allour countries.

‘If there is a political will for peace,water will not be a hindrance. If youwant reasons to fight, water will giveyou ample opportunities’, a member ofthe Israeli negotiating team to theMiddle East Peace Process, HydrologyProfessor Uri Shamir once noted.

May peace, wisdom, sensibility andgenuine concern for all humanity pre-vail within the Great Nile Basin.

EDITORIALThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZACOVER STORY

Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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As Tanzania and her neighbours pump morefunds and effort into water and irrigationprojects, all is not rosy along the Great NileBasin. After a diplomatic tug of war thathas lasted for more than a decade, Egypt, acountry that is still recovering from the

throes of political upheaval, has now all but lost its vetopowers and rights to Nile waters.

This paves the way for upstream Tanzania, Uganda,Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi to implement ir-rigation and hydropower projects without first seekingEgypt’s approval.

Some of the countries have defended their position onthis. “The proposedmeasuresmay save a total of asmuchas 20 cubic billion meters,” Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairsminister Desalegn Hailemariam is quoted saying.

The seven upstream nations need “less than 10 bil-lion cubic meters” of additional water. In addition,Ethiopia’s Nile Basin has the potential to generate10,000 megawatts of cheap hydropower that could beshared with all the countries concerned if it was devel-oped, without reducing the river’s flow.

But Egypt, which draws 90 per cent of its water fromthe Nile, is still concerned about water security. The sit-uation is much similar for Sudan, which also dependsheavily on the great river.

Formally launched in February 1999, the Nile BasinInitiative (NBI) was a partnership initiated and led bythe Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the NileBasin states (Nile Council of Ministers, or Nile-COM).The initiative started with a participatory process of dia-logue among the riparian states that resulted in a sharedvision - to “achieve sustainable socioeconomic develop-ment through the equitable utilisation of, and benefitfrom, the common Nile Basin water resources.

According to the organisation, the initiative seeks todevelop the river in a cooperative manner, share sub-stantial socioeconomic benefits, and promote regionalpeace and security.

The NBI admits that cooperative water resourcesmanagement is complex in any international river basin.In the Nile Basin, which is characterised by water scarci-ty, poverty, a long history of dispute and insecurity, andrapidly growing populations and demand for water, it isparticularly difficult.

The policy guidelines define the following as the pri-mary objectives of the NBI: to develop the Nile Basin wa-

ter resources in a sustainable and equitable way to en-sure prosperity, security, and peace for all its peoples; toensure efficient water management and the optimal useof the resources; to ensure cooperation and joint actionbetween the riparian countries, seeking win-win gains; totarget poverty eradication and promote economic inte-gration; and to ensure that the programme results in amove from planning to action.

The NBI seeks to pursue, simultaneously, coopera-tive development opportunities to realise physical invest-ments and tangible results through sub-basin activities(subsidiary action programmes) in the Eastern Nile andthe Nile Equatorial Lakes regions.

The initiative provides an institutional mechanism, ashared vision, and a set of agreed policy guidelines to pro-vide a basinwide framework for cooperative action andlay the groundwork for cooperative action through a re-gional programme meant to build confidence and capaci-ty throughout the basin (the Shared Vision Programme).

Confidence building and having shared visions arekey exercises that need to be undertaken at the moment.But confidence building does not include rhetoric like“national security issue”, “red line”, “in response tothreats’, “stopping the inevitable” and ‘historic rights.”

Shared vision meanwhile cannot mean the currentscenario where six upstream countries are about to startimplementing water use and irrigation plans “with orwithout” the approval of the two most affected countries,while the final member country has yet to decide what itwants.

While we realise that it is virtually impossible to stopthe upstream countries from ratifying the newCooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) without theapproval of all members of the NBI, we call for wisdomand calm heads to prevail to avert fomenting unneces-sary tensions between and among our already impover-ished states.

Wallace MauggoEditor

Use of Nile waters:Let wisdom prevail

i n s i d e

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More water forOnion farmers

Artwork & Design: KN Mayunga To have your organisation promoted in Kilimo Kwanza, Call: 0787 571308, 0655 571308 0754 571308

Irrigation boostfor JKT farms

May the Nilewaters stay calm

May the Nilewaters stay calm

POLICYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAPOLICY

Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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By Makuna Chirimi

ON the ninth of October,2009, the Irrigation andTechnical Services de-partment of theMinistry of Water andIrrigation wrote to the

Chief Secretary in the President’sOffice, State House.

The letter was in response to theMinistry’s implementation matrix onthe ten pillars of Kilimo Kwanza, andspecifically as pertains to irrigation.

The letter noted among otherthings that, the pillars are not thor-oughly exhausting in interventions inirrigation sector. We hope that thisanomaly has since been rectified be-cause irrigation is a key ingredient ofsuccess in Kilimo Kwanza.

Proper water management andIrrigation alone can increases agricul-tural output two fold and in some in-stances, three-fold.

Irrigation is covered in three sec-tions of the ten pillars of KilimoKwanza. The second pillar deals withfinancing of Kilimo Kwanza in whichthe government aims to Increase budg-etary allocation to irrigate over 7 mil-lion hectares of high and medium po-tential arable land by 2015. Thesefunds would be used in the rehabilita-tion and construction of irrigation in-frastructure to irrigate 24,000 hectares.

Pillar 8 of Kilimo Kwanza aims toinstitute mechanisms for effective uti-lization of science and technology andhuman resources in Kilimo kwanza.The irrigation mandate under this pil-lar is instituting the recruitment pro-gram for agronomists, irrigation engi-neers, hydrologists, dam designers,consultants and contractors. The min-istry is supposed to provide facilitationand training for 20 irrigation technicalstaff on short courses and ten irrigationtechnical staff on long course levels.

They are to also build capacity by train-ing 20 irrigation technical staff on irri-gation technologies and sensitize pri-vate sector on their participation in ir-rigation.

Finally, Pillar 9 deals with infra-structure development for KilimoKwanza. The ministry of water shouldIdentify infrastructure developmentneeds for KILIMO KWANZA and buildadequate irrigation schemes targetingpriority crops, production volumes andlocation requirements.

However according to the WaterMinistry letter, “May be one Key areato be highlighted on irrigation is thehuge budget constraint hamperingeven the minimal development of30,000 hectares annually, as proposedin the national Irrigation Master Plan.Leave alone the projection of 7 millionhectares by year 2015.”

“But basing on the budgetary con-siderations of the 2009/10 budget asubmission has been prepared,” the let-ter concludes.

Discussing this year’s budget, TheMinister for Water and Irrigation ProfMark Mwandosya said that the min-istry had allocated each disctrict in thecountry, TSH 800m/- for irrigation.

Reports from different parts of thecountry indicate that some districthave already earmarked projects thatthey intend to develop with thesefunds. We urge those districts thathave yet to submit their projects to doso quickly. We also pray that the dis-bursement of the funds for the projectswill be concluded quickly and efficient-ly and utilized as planned.

“I am of the opinion that the irriga-tion sector development needs to be giv-en a due consideration as water and ir-rigation infrastructure are instrumen-tal in pushing forward Kilimo kwanza,”the Permanent Secretary concludes inhis letter.

We concur

Irrigation - More funding required

IRRIGATIONThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAPOLICY

Tuesday 8 March, 2011

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By Stella Barozi

In it’s efforts to modernize itsagriculture, the nationalService commonly known asJeshi la Kujenga Taifa (JKT)has introduced irrigation farm-ing to some of its farms.

JKT has started with its Chitafarm in Morogoro’s Kilombero districtwhich has five rivers flowing withinthe farm all year round as a pilot proj-ect. It’s a big farm that can guaranteeincreased production since it’s situatedin the fertile Kilombero basin.

The plan is to have 1000 hectaresout of the 37,500 hectares at Chitafarm under irrigation. Fifty hectareshave been cultivated already and arefed with water from river Ng’onyo.Harvests are expected this month, atime when those depending on rainfallagriculture are planting.

Following introduction of theKilimo Kwanza initiative in the coun-try, JKT was assigned to produce highquality seeds for agriculture. However,drought caused by climate change be-came a challenge, forcing JKT to optfor irrigation farming.

According to JKT’s Director ofAgriculture and Livestock,Major PeterLushika the first phase of the con-struction of the irrigation infrastruc-ture at Chita commenced in October2010. This was done in partnershipwith Morogoro’s Mzinga Corporationwhich is under the crops brigade.Construction is still going on.

“The job involved construction ofthe water intake from River Ng’onyowhose water will be used to irrigateabout 200 acres at the end of the proj-ect,” Major Lushika says.

A total of Tshs 18m has so far beenused in the first phase of the project,money obtained from JKT resources.

The second phase involved con-struction of water intake from Mkajariver whose water flows fromUdzungwa mountains. Construction isstill going on and a total of Tshs 29.9mhas so far been used. Eight hundredhectares will be irrigated using Mkajariver waters.

The main crop in the Chita pilotproject is rice seed, and the aim is toproduce enough seed for farmers in thecountry.

The seeds, according to MajorLushika will get to the farmersthrough the Agricultural Seed Agency(ASA) to which JKT sells its seeds.ASA processes the seeds which it thensells to farmers.

Other agricultural seeds which canbe produced at Chita include maize,horticulture, cocoa and plantains tomention but a few.

Despite being given the task toproduce the country’s high qualityseeds for agriculture, a shortage offunds has been hindering JKT fromfulfilling the assignment to the maxi-mum level.

“We will be able to produce highquality rice seeds if we get financial as-sistance to complete the project ontime,” he said. The high cost of con-struction materials is a setback.

Machinery is another problem.“Getting enough tractors and combineharvesters would be very helpful. Youcan’t cultivate 1000 hectares with ahand hoe, let alone harvesting,” saysmajor Lushika.

JKT has only two tractors at Chitaand the plan is to have two more trac-tors soon. The minimum number oftractors required is five and one com-bine harvester.

What about the hundreds of trac-tors at JKT’s Mwenge yard?

“Those are for sale.We need to findways to buy some because those trac-tors were obtained on credit,” MajorLushika says. They can at least getsome on credit, thanks to an internalsystem to lend to each other.

Agricultural inputs such as chemi-cals are another challenge. JKT is inneed of weed herbicides but they aretoo costly. JKT has no choice but to de-pend on hired labour force whichMajorLushika says is unreliable.

The projection, when the projecttakes off in full gear, is to harvest 30bags per hectare whereby a bag cur-rently fetches Tshs 80,000. The mini-mum they could get from the 1000hectares to be cultivated is Tshs 2.4bn.

“Immediately after we were as-

signed to produce high quality seeds,we applied for money from the PrimeMinister’s office to execute the assign-ment,” says Major Lushika.

In January last year, JKT request-ed for Tshs 6.9bn from the PrimeMinister’s office for irrigation infra-structure and machinery aimed mod-ernising their agriculture. They are

yet to receive the money. JKTwrote to the PM’s office through theMinistry of Defence and NationalService explaining the challenges theyface in implementing Kilimo Kwanza.

“One of the challenges we men-tioned was failure to produce to themaximum level due to dependence onunreliable rain,” said Major Lushika.

In another effort to get financialsupport, JKT approached the Treasuryin April last year requesting for about

Tshs 1.5bn. They are still waiting forresponse.

In November last year, JKT sent abusiness plan to the Ministry ofAgriculture whereby they requestedTshs 20bn. Again, they are still wait-ing for response from the Ministry.Efforts by this paper to get the min-istry’s comment on the matter provedfutile.

JKT approached the TanzaniaInvestment Bank (TIB) early this yearto see if they could get a loan throughthe agriculture window to enable themimplement Kilimo Kwanza effectively.

Talks between JKT and TIB aregoing on and the prospects are good.“We are trying to modernize their agri-culture. We want to mechanise theirfarms. To us they fit well because theyhave a vast amount of land. The ques-

tion is how to use their farms,” saidJaffer Machano, TIB’s Head ofStrategic Planning and CorporateAffairs.

TIB’s main focus is on processing,lack of which they think has previous-ly hampered the development of agri-culture in the country.

Machano said discussions withJKT are still on the concept levelwhereby they are looking into under-taking a well organized study to iden-tify things like market and needsamong others.

“Our point is to move as quickly aswe can,” said Machano.

Following the introduction ofKilimo Kwanza in 2009, a total of Tshs22bn was allocated to the TanzaniaInvestment Bank (TIB) through itsagriculture window for concessionarylending for agricultural production.

But how about partnering withforeign and local investors if money isa problem? JKT has looked into thistoo. They have spoken with several lo-cal and foreign investors but they didnot have a common understanding.

Most of the investors JKT has hadtalks with prefer leasing JKT land,something that is not feasible as far asJKT is concerned. “We need joint ven-tures,” says major Lushika.

Leasing is not possible becauseJKT farms are used by many as train-ing pilots for neighboring communitiesand youths in camps. District and re-gional councils also use JKT farms forlearning purposes. Even students fromthe Sokoine University of Agriculturedo field practicals at JKT camps.

After Chita, JKT’s Oljoro camp inArusha which is currently under sur-vey will follow as far as irrigation isconcerned. The plan is to build a bigdam there but again finance is a prob-lem. “We are also focusing on Songafarm in Handeni, Tanga. There areboreholes there that have waterthroughout. There is also area for damconstruction and we are looking formoney to develop the boreholes anddam construction,” said MajorLushika.

The coffee farm in Mbeya is alsounder irrigation though at the mo-ment, irrigation is at a low level due tolack of infrastructure like waterpumps.

Major Lushika calls upon the gov-ernment to direct Kilimo Kwanzafunds to institutions that are totallyengaged in agriculture if it’s to getKilimo Kwanza out put.

JKT is a good example of such in-stitutions for they have experts, bigfarms with fertile and virgin land aswell as a disciplined labour force andcan ensure good use of governmentmoney.

Major Lushika believes KilimoKwanza will be a success if more effortis put into it. That is if the allocatedmoney is put into Kilimo Kwanza.

“We need to go into hi-tech agricul-ture…computerized agriculture whichwill see us reaping four times than innormal production,” he says.

Financial support is all JKT needsto make Kilimo kwanza a reality. Withenough funds, JKT will be able to takeoff in Kilimo Kwanza and surprise thenation.

They will flood the market withfood for both consumption and export.

As far as preparations to executeKilimo Kwanza are concerned, JKThas taken some of its staff to the UyoleAgriculture College to add on to its ex-isting number of agriculture experts.

By Makuna Chirimi

ONE hundred TanzanianMembers of Parliament(MP’s) look set to ex-change their suits foroveralls, thanks to animpending tractor loan

deal.The Tanzania Investment Bank

(TIB) through its agro-finance windowis in the final stages of processing aloan that will enable the legislators topurchase 100 tractors from the com-mercial wing of the National ServiceArmy (Jeshi la Kujenga Taifa – SUMAJKT). Each tractor costs an average of25 million shillings.

“Lending for tractor purchases haspicked up considerably,” PriscaChanga, the Head of the AgriculturalFinance Window of the TIB said. Shesaid that lending by the TIB with sup-port of the Private Agricultural SectorSupport (PASS) had increased in thelast quarter of last year and growing.

Previously, The Gaurdian throughits agriculture pullout Kilimo Kwanza;reported that hundreds of tractorswere idly parked at the SUMA JKTyard in Dar es Salaam. The country ac-quired the tractors on a US$ 40m loandeal with the government of India.

The SUMA JKT Project Manager,Lt Col. Felix Samillan had also sentout an earnest appeal to local banksand other financial institutions to offerloan facilities to those interested inpurchasing the tractors and other farmimplements. In his appeal, the projectmanager called for a cut in bureaucra-cy and an easing of lending conditionsto those looking to purchase the farmmachinery.

“There has been very positive feed-back both from government and non-government quarters,” the projectmanager noted. The JKT is also nego-tiating a loan with the TIB to supportthe pursuit of the tasks assigned underthe Kilimo Kwanza (agriculture first)

green revolution, which includes in-creasing seed production for theAgricultural Seed Agency (ASA).

Financing for Kilimo Kwanza hasbeen a niggling problem as many localfinancial institutions do not support di-rect agricultural production. The loanconditions, interest rates and loan re-payment conditions are also prohibi-tive. At 20%, the down payment fortractors is also higher than what theaverage Tanzanian farmer can afford.The TIB therefore urges farmers tojoin SACCOS to cash in on the advan-tages.

SACCOS and Village CommunityBanks (VICOBA) that are at the fore-front of receiving loans for tractor pur-chases are also showing interest inpurchasing the tractors.

As a first step towards the forma-tion of an exclusive farmer’s bank, thegovernment put aside TSH 22bn foragriculture. The funds are availablethrough the agriculture finance win-dow of the TIB. Of this amount 30%has been set aside for cooperative soci-eties (SACCOS), another 30% to sup-port banks and microfinance institu-tions that offer loans geared towardsthe green revolution (Kilimo Kwanza)and the remainder is set aside for agri-business loans. By December of lastyear (2010) the bank had disbursedsome 13.7bn shillings to 11 companies,21 SACCOS and four communitybanks (VICOBA).

These are low interest agricultureloans offered at only 8% interest andagri-business loans at 5%. This it isenvisioned will support the commer-cialization and growth of agriculture inthe country. Farmers can access theloans by providing collaterals on loansor through their SACCOS.

However, “There is no half wayhouse on the road to mechanization.Commercial farming is a competitivebusiness and anyone venturing to growfor profit must be advised accordingly.A mere tractor loan can worsen afarmer’s situation,” Jonathan Lane,the Managing Director of TractorsLimited has warned.

He said most farmers are purchas-ing the tractors and ploughs only yettwo or threemonths of ploughing aloneis not sufficient to repay the loans.“They need a full set of equipment forthe tractors to be commercially viable.”For example at the moment farmerswho purchase power tillers do not buythe rice reaper which is the most im-portant tool they require after plant-ing. “To the best ofmy knowledge thereare only four working threshers in thecountry,” he added.

Compare this to over 1,500 inNigeria and over 3,000 in Pakistan inone year alone. Low level of mecha-nization is among key contributors tothe non-competitiveness of local agri-produce in the export market. A ton ofPakistani available on the global mar-ket costs US$ 250 (about TSH 450,000)plus freight. Production costs per kiloof rice in Tanzania is upwards of TSH500 per kilo. Besides, there is noTanzanian rice on sale in the interna-tional market. This year the countryfailed to reach its internal food quotaand received some TSH 17bn worth ofrice aid from Japan.

Banks that lend to finance a trac-tor and plough may get their moneyback if their client is a contractor pro-viding ploughing services. However ifthe farmer is just relying on handlabour for the other duties, then thecost of production will exceed the mar-

ket price of harvests and the businesswill fold quickly. The farmers wouldstill have to pay for labour, seeds, fer-tilizer, harvesting, storage and trans-portation of this expanded area. Everytractor should at least have a trailer,every power tiller should have a ricereaper.

Mechanization of the country’sagriculture will not only reduce pro-duction costs, it also cuts down on postharvest losses currently estimated at40% for grains.

Kaya Kezema, the ManagingDirector of DEMACO (DevelopingMechanized Agriculture Company)also seconded this view, saying that hisorganization insists that for all tractorloans processed by DEMACO, the trac-tor must be accompanied by a trailerand plough. “We will soon stop givingloans to SACCOS that do not have ac-cess to silos and warehouses,” he said.

Responding to these challenges,the head of the agro-finance window ofthe TIB said that her bank was con-stantly re-organizing in tune withemerging realities, challenges. “Weare still learning, and balancing be-tween the need for tractors andploughs and other farming equip-ment,” Prisca said. “We have receivedsome requests from SACCOS to fi-nance irrigation equipment and we arelooking into how this can be achieved,”she added.

However even as the tractor salespick up, it has emerged that the newlypurchased machinery is at an unduerisk of misuse and degradation.Tractor owners do not attend the freetraining sessions of tractor use andmaintenance available to those pur-chasing new machines.

According to the Director of

Agricultural Mechanization in theMinistry of Agriculture and FoodSecurity (MAFC), Eng. Richard Shetto,many farmers leave their tractors inthe hands of skilled or semi skilled op-erators which poses a huge risk to theirinvestments.

Theministry discovered that of the200 farmers that received tractor loansthrough the national voucher system,196 of them used unlicensed drivers.“98% of them had unlicensed driverswho don’t have any kind of training ontractor handling,” he said. This leads tomisuse and degradation of the tractorsand other expensive equipment. Thisproblem is fueled in part by a shortageof tractors drivers / operators in the vil-lages. “Some farmers want to be paidto attend the training,” he also noted,urging the farmers to change their at-titudes and take their investments se-riously.

“These are the same farmers whowill not allow their children to playwith the TV remote control or radio setwhich costs a couple of thousandshillings, but still allow their tractorsworth millions of shillings to be drivenaround by unskilled people,” Eng.Shetto said.

“The disc plough for example is oneof the most common and yet the mostmisused and abused of all farm equip-ment,” the head of Tractors limited.

An official at PASS, an organiza-tion that builds linkages betweenfarmers, SACCOS and the TIB andprovides project assessment and loanguarantees has also cited instanceswhere new tractors fail to last for ayear. “There was a peculiar case whereone operator drove the tractor across aflooded river,” he said, noting that lowlevel of knowledge leads to misuse ofthe tractors.

“To address this weakness, we of-fer compulsory four day training to allbuyers. No training. No tractor,” theManaging Director for TractorsLimited said. He added that his com-pany is committed to ensuring optimaland correct use of the equipment asthis also reduces the time, energy andresources spent on unscheduled main-tenance and repairs.

The switch from the hand hoe tomechanized agriculture is one of thepillars of Kilimo Kwanza. At the mo-ment, about 70 percent of Tanzania’stotal crop area is cultivated by handhoe, 20 percent by ox plough and only10 percent by tractor.

The country needs at least 20,000working tractors to achieve the goals ofagricultural self sufficiency stated un-der Kilimo Kwanza. However wherethere were 17,000 working tractors inthe 1970’s, only 8,000 remain. To fillthis gap, the country aims to importover 2,000 tractors every year for thenext ten years.

At least eight in ten Tanzaniansdepends directly on agriculture. Thismakes the modernization and com-mercialization of the sector a key pri-ority in poverty alleviation, spurringeconomic growth.

Creating forward linkages in agri-culture will also see the growth of oth-er sectors of the economy as agricul-ture contributes to almost half of thenational Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

Irrigation boostfor JKT farms

MP’s to drive 100SUMA-JKT tractors

IRRIGATIONThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Tuesday 8 March, 2011

8

By Mark Tarmo, Karatu

Onion farmers in KaratuDistrict’s Malekcha vil-lage will enjoy moreharvests this year,thanks to a Tshs 190massistance from the dis-

trict’s development fund.Themoneywill be used to construct

modern irrigation channels to enableeasy transportation of water to theirfarms. Currently, the onion farmers inthe lake Eyasi basin face difficulties inirrigating their farms because the wa-ter channels, which are not made ofconcrete, are clogged with mud andweeds. This prevents adequate waterflow to the farms.

There are over 1000 onion farmers

in the area all who depend on onesource of water for irrigation. The onionfarmers get water for irrigation fromthe big Qangdend water spring fromthe nearby Qangdend village whichalso provides water to two more vil-lages for irrigation.

The blocked channels mean that atthe moment the villages take turns towater their farms.

Improvement of the channels willsee an end to endless squabbles overwater, that have become the order ofthe day for farmers in the village. Thelatest incident took place a fortnightago where one farmer hit his colleaguewith a hoe in the head, injuringhim.

The incident resulted from thefarmer’s refusal to hand over irrigation

to the next farmer. He argued that hehad not completed irrigating his wholefarm and yet his turn to use the waterhad expired, leading to the fight.

The money therefore could nothave arrived at a better time as the im-provement of the channels is expectedto increase water flow and irrigation ef-ficiency.

According to the village chairman,Damiano Aqisha, the Tshs 190m willbe disbursed in April and a committeetomanage the funds is already in place.“The implementation of the project willstart inMay andwe expect it to be com-plete in June,” said Aqisha.

Joseph Kwaslema, an onion farmeris hopeful that his yield will increasetwofold after the construction of themodern channels. Kwaslema will be

able to irrigate thewhole of his two acrefarm. Currently he is only able to irri-gate one acre.

Also thrilled by the government as-sistance is Mushi Hitler who currentlyis only able to irrigate half of his threeacre onion farm.

The Lake Eyasi basin is wellknown for onion farming and duringhis visits to the area in 2005 and 2010,President Jakaya Kikwete promised tohelp the onion farmers to improve irri-gation farming.

The onion farmers of the LakeEyasi basin sell their onions in Arushawhere they are sold locally as well asexported to Kenya and then Dubai.Prices per sack range between TSH60,000 and Tshs 120,000 depending onmarket conditions.

KILIMOKWANZADIRECTORY

WATER AND SANITATION

Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority(DAWASA) – Tel: +255 22 276 0006

Dar es Salaam Water and Sewarage Corporation(DAWASCO) Tel: +255 22-2131191/4

Drilling and Dam Construction Agency (DDCA)Tel: +255 22 2410430/2410299

Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory AuthorityTel: +255 22 2123850, 22 2123853

Water and Environmental Sanitation ProjectsMaintenance Organization (WEPMO)Tel: +255 22 2410738, 716 099959

Ministry of WaterTel: +255 22 245 1448

INDUSTRY SUPPORT ANDASSOCIATIONS

Small Industries Development Organization(SIDO) – Email: dg@sido.go.tz, info@sido.go.tz

ANSAF - P.O. Box 6370, Dar es Salaam

CNFA - info@cnfatanzania.org

Tractors LimitedCells: +255 784 421606, 786 150213

Consolidated Holdings Corporation (CHC)Tel: 255 (022) 2117988/9

Vocational Education and Training Authority(VETA) – Tel: +255 22 2863683/2863409

Export Processing Zones in Tanzania (EPZ)Tel: +255 22 2451827-9

Agricultural Economics Society of Tanzania(AGREST) – Tel. +255-23 260 3415

Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC)Tel: +255 22 2122984-6

Tanzania Agriculture Partnership (TAP)Tel: +255 22 2124851

Tanzania Milk Processors Association (TAMPA)Tel: +255 222 450 426

Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC)Tel: +255 26 2321455

Tanzania Cotton BoardTel: +255 22 2122564, 2128347

Horticultural DevelopmentCouncil of Tanzania (HODECT)Cell: +255 789 222 344; Fax: +255 27254 4568

TATEECO Ltd – Tel: +255 784 427817

AGRO-PROCESSING

ERTH Food - Tel: +255 22 2862040

MUKPAR Tanzania LtdTel: +255 28 250038/184

ASAS Diaries Limited - Tel: +255 26 2725200

Tanga Fresh – Tel +255 27 2644238

NatureRipe Kilimanjaro LimitedTel: +255 22 21 51457

EQUIPMENT

Gurudumu Tatu LimitedTel: +255 22 2865632 / 2863699

National Service Corporation Sole (SUMAJKT)Cell: +255 717 993 874, 715 787 887

FINANCE

Private Agricultural Sector Support (PASS)Tel: 023-3752/3758/3765

Community Bank AssociationTel: +255 22 2123245

Bank of TanzaniaP.O. Box 2939, Dar es Slaam,Tanzania

AGRO-INPUTS

Minjingu Mines & Fertilizers LtdTel: +255 27 253 9259 250 4679

More water for Onionfarmers in Karatu district