Wednesday 6 April, 2011

kilimokwanza@guardian.co.tz

SUPPORTING THE PROMOTERS OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION

TZ BREEDERSIMPRESS

By Kilimo Kwanza Reporter

For three years, he haspumpedmillions of dollarsinto the development ofTanzania’s agriculturesector. But when he final-ly came to check on the

impact and progress of the pro-grammes, it is the tireless resolve ofsmallholder farmers in Mbeya and theselfless but creative efforts individualTanzanian researchers toiling out therein the fields that that arrested the at-tention of retired UN SecretaryGeneral Dr Kofi Annan.

In his capacity as chairman of theAlliance for a Green Revolution inAfrica, which he founded in half adecade ago, Dr Annan has just spent aweekend touring Mbeya region inTanzania’s Southern Highlands wherehe was impressed by the strides madein research for breeding better seedsthat has immensely boosted the outputof local farmers.

InUyole valley, theNobel Laureatespent sometime admiring a half-acreplot on which a peasant woman pro-duces 50 bags of potatoes and 10 bags ofmaize using improved breeds and irri-gation. Mrs Zuberi also picks twenty

tins of tomatoes from her garden everyweek. When Dr Annan asked her howshe obtains funding for her business,she at first asked “for what?”Apparently, when you sell so much pro-duce from a small plot like that, youdefinitely have more cash for re-invest-ment than you require. Nowonder,MrsZuberi’s four children are attendinggood schools, she has built a good houseand with her husband, Mr Zuberi theyare now leading a relatively comfort-able life.

Further probing by Dr Annanyielded the truth about lending rateswhich are still uncomfortably high atslightly over 50 percent. Those farmersin the area who still require credit fromlocal SACCOs typically pay Tshs13,000per month for a 12 months after receiv-ing a loan of Tshs100,000. Dr Annanwas visibly taken aback by the ‘exorbi-tant’ rates which see a farmer endingup paying Tshs156,000 for everyTsh100,000 he borrows.

Kofi Annan also interacted atlength with Tanzanian researcherswhom he found at work while criss-crossing Mbeya. He was particularlyimpressed with the youthful Dr ArnoldMushongi who has been deeply in-volved with breeding maize. Mushongi

has developed better varieties with therare combinations of shorter growingperiod, higher yield and requiring less(nitrogen) fertilizer.

If the government allowsMushongi’s new seeds to be used byfarmers, Tanzania’s food productionwould simply be dramatically revolu-tionalised. For where the seeds havebeen planted in limited quantities fortrial, places where ‘good’ maize yields ofone and a half tons per hectare werethe norm, they are now producing up tonine tons of maize per hectare.

Dr Annan was also briefed by DrCatherine Madata, another Tanzanianscientist who has spent years develop-ing higher yielding legumes especiallysoya beans. Annan saw soya plants ofthe older variety and the ‘modern’ onesdeveloped by Dr Madata and was im-pressed by the dramatic difference.

But quality seeds need to be multi-plied and made available to the marketand entrepreneurs are needed for thistask. One AGRA beneficiary who hasmade it big is Mr Isaka Mashauri, pro-prietor of Tanseeds international. Themillionaire had occasion to showcasehis successful ventures to Dr Annan.

One of themost crucial componentsof the Kilimo Kwanza drive is the link-

ing of the smallholder farmers tosources of vital inputs. To this end,Annan’s AGRA has invested heavily indeveloping agro dealers.

These are small retail outlets thathave over the past few years reducedthe distance a rural farmers has tomove to access fertilizer, seeds andchemicals from an average fifty to lessthan ten kilometres. Availability andeasy access is a key factor in a farmer’sdecision making as to whether to usethese inputs or not. Through AGRAsupport, some 2,600 agro-dealers havebeen recruited, trained and enabledand are now busy serving rural farmersin far-flung places.

Traveling with other members ofthe AGRA board, Dr Annan visited twoagro dealers’ shops deep in the country-side where they are dispensing inputsto the farmers. These agro-dealers arecarrying out an important function thathad all but died in the agricultural sec-tor – provision of extension services. Byusing their demonstration plots, someof these dealers educate and trainfarmers on best farming practices sothey can use the inputs they sell tothem properly.

Besides extension services, theagro-dealers are playing a new role of

making credit financing for farmerspossible. In an atmosphere wherebanks do not trust farmers due to lackof security, the agro-dealers have pro-vides a useful link through whichAGRA has made it possible for farmersto access credit.

The National Microcredit Bank haslent out billions of shillings withouttaking security, courtesy of AGRAguarantees. A dramatic effect of thishas been the ‘discovery’ both inTanzania and other African countrieswhere AGRA operates, that farmersare probably the most reliable categoryto lend to. Recovery rates of nearly ahundred percent have been recorded inall economies where AGRA leveragehas enabled farmers to get unsecuredcredit.

As he was preparing to leave thecountry, Dr Annan had aword of adviceto Tanzanians about the leasing out oflarge tracts of land to foreign investorsfor commercial agriculture.

Encourage commercial farmingbut, he said, let these large scale opera-tors who produce for export also playtheir part in enhancing the country’sfood security because in times of foodscarcity, things may not turn out sowell for everybody.

EDITORIALThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Wednesday 5 April, 2011

2

The Guardian KILIMO KWANZACOVER STORY

Wednesday 5 April, 2011

3

Water covers two-thirds of the Earth'ssurface, but most of it is in the seasand oceans which are too salty for hu-man use. Only 2.5% of the world's wa-ter is not salty, but two thirds of thatis in the form of icecaps and glaciers

on mountains and a further 20% of the remaining wateris in remote areas.

As such, we only have available less than 0.08% of allthe Earth's water, yet estimates have that over the nexttwo decades the worlds water needs will increase byabout 40%.

Currently the world uses about 70% of the availablewater in agriculture. The World Water Council believesthat by 2020 we shall need 17%more water than is avail-able if we are to feed the world. It is because of this thatthe United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)warns that water scarcity will be at the forefront of theinternational agenda for decades to come. UNEP saysthat in some cases water may be a contributing factor inlocal and international conflict.

The negative impacts of poor water supply are welldocumented. Poor water supply primarily affects the ur-ban and rural poor who pay high prices to commercialwater vendors for small quantities of sometimes poorquality water. In rural areas, low water supply manifestsitself in low agricultural production and poor quality oflife.

It is against this background that we welcome thegovernment’s move to give water the top priority it de-serves in the coming budget. Water continues to be avastly important yet scarce resource in the country. Theproposed increase in government allocation to this sectorwill greatly alleviate the current challenges of waterborne and water-related diseases while also boosting so-cio-economic development.

The government has often indicated its commitmentto making water shortages history in the near future.However budgetary constraints have been a major, if not

themajor impedance to the achievement of this erstwhilegoal.

Although many people remain skeptical about theachievement of millennium development targets, reliablewater supply included, there are some positive indica-tions are already being seen in this sector in Tanzania.

The Energy and Water Utilities RegulatoryAuthority (EWURA) for example is in the final stages ofsetting regulations for private water suppliers. It ishoped that the draft guidelines that will govern the sup-ply of clean and safe water by commercial private opera-tors in areas with limited or no supply of clean and safewater. This will among other things, restore the faith ofthousands if not millions of Tanzanians who risk diseaseand even death by consuming water sourced from dubi-ous sources by the commercial operators.

Other efforts aimed at addressing the challenges ofdrought and water shortage, water supply to poor com-munities and providing access to clean and safe water toboth rural and urban populations should also benefitfrom this budget boost.

However a word of advice; in the face of global cli-matic changes, more funds, awareness and efforts shouldalso be geared towards sustainable use, development andexpansion of available water sources. This will assist inpreventing environmental degradation from severelycrippling livelihoods, the economy and negating the an-ticipated positive impacts of increased investment in thewater sector.

Wallace MauggoEditor

Focus on WaterSector Overdue

i n s i d e

5

6

7

Economic growthshould reflect onlives of majority

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

Tanzania to hostregional milkconference

Water - top priorityfor Tanzania 2011-12

TZ breeders impress Annan

POLICYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Wednesday 5 April, 2011

4

The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAPOLICY

Wednesday 5 April, 2011

5

By Angel Navuri

Astudy on Taxation valuechains has been carriedout in the country andfound that expected re-duction in the rate of pro-duce cess from 5 to 3 per-

cent of the farm gate price is likely tohave no impact on the position of thefarmers around the country.

According to the study sponsoredby Agriculture Council of Tanzania andpresented to Tanzania AgriculturalPartnership this is caused by the actu-al rates that are currently chargedsource on maize and rice are 2.3 to 11percent respectively.

Although produce cess is a crucialsource of revenue to the district coun-

cils, it should be abolished or its burdenshould be shifted to the processors andfinal consumers.

The report reads that there is needfor comprehensive education to the ac-tors in the value chains on agriculturaltaxation and large scale quantitativestudies are imperative in order to ob-tain a more objective assessment of theeffects of taxation along different stagesof the value chains.

Governments impose on agricul-tural products at different stages ofproduction and exchange in order togenerate revenue to meet governmentexpenditure

There’s need to design policies thatshould ensure that part of the tax bur-den is shifted to other actors along thevalue chains, particularly the proces-

sors and final consumers.For instance, the field study re-

vealed that total taxes paid by a smallholder paddy produce in Mbarali areapproximately 6 percent of their in-come whereas the individual incometax for individuals engaged in other ac-tivities is zero.

The stakeholders who were inter-viewed acknowledge that produce cessis a major direct that levied to small-holder farmers as well as commercialfarmers they urged that this levy is cre-ating significant disincentives to thedevelopment of agriculture because itstoo high and it is poorly adminis-tered.

The way produce cess is adminis-tered results into restriction in themarketing of agricultural produce.

Although the legislation has set themaximum charge rate of 50 percent,the actual rate charged has been vary-ing from one local authority to another.

They further urged that the levy ischarged regardless of whether thefarmer has made a loss or profit on theproduce.

It is based on this scenario thatproduce cess is regarded by stakehold-ers as lacking qualities of a good tax es-pecially fairness and buoyancy.

Some of the stakeholders have ob-served that the current industrial cess0.3 percent of turn over which is leviedto industrial owners in the districtswhose purpose is similar to producecess is significant lower.

They were of the view that this setup has resulted into making the indus-

trial owners at district level better offand the farmers worse off.

The stakeholders also suggestedthat in order to achieve vibrant agricul-tural development, deliberate effortsshould be geared towards promoting ir-rigation schemes.

They suggested that one of the in-centives to consider granting 100 per-cent tax relief on all irrigation equip-ment to enable farmers both commer-cial and commercial access irrigationequipment. They indicated that cur-rently irrigation equipment is chargedboth duty and VAT.

To implement this stakeholderssuggest that TRA license those compa-nies which will de dealing with impor-tation of the irrigation equipment andundertake usual inspections.

Tax regime still unfriendly to farmers

By Makuna Chirimi

THE announcement thatwater is the number onepriority for Tanzania inthe 2011/2012 budgetcouldn’t have come at abetter time.

Committing to a budget increase ofTSH 700bn up from TSH 300bn for thewater sector, President JakayaKikwete said that “This time, we willdeal with the water sector. In fact, thisis our top priority.”

While most of the water funds an-nounced by the President are expectedto go towards providing clean and safedrinking water as opposed to financingdirect agricultural inputs like irriga-tion; access to clean, safe and reliablewater remains a key ingredient to agri-cultural productivity, especially in ru-ral areas where majority of the popu-lace lacks access to the resource.Human resource is severely hamperednot only by the long hours consumed insearch of water, but also through waterborne diseases that kill and cripple cur-rent and future generations.

As the Head of State noted, meagerbudgetary allocations have made ac-cess to safe and clean water a pipedream for many Tanzanians. ThePresident also rightly stated that real-ization of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) on water which obligesgovernments to ensure 95% urban and65% rural access to safe, clean and reli-able water by 2015 are impossible with-out sufficient budgetary allocations.

The President was speaking at arecent visit to the Ministry of Water inDar es Salaam, which coincided withthe World Water Week celebrations.According to the United Nations, thisyear’s event aimed to encourage gov-

ernments, organizations, communitiesand individuals to actively engage inaddressing the challenges of urban wa-ter management.

Announcing a TSH 12trillion out-line budget earlier this month, theMinister for Finance and EconomicAffairs, Hon Mustafa Mkulo an-nounced 12 priority areas of agricul-ture, water, education, livestock andfishing, energy, infrastructure fortransport, industrial development andhealth. Others were lands, housing andhuman settlements, human resourcesdevelopment, science and technologyand development of financial services.

Cross cutting issues like environmentalpreservation, good governance, genderdevelopment and HIV-AIDS were alsocovered.

At 19%, education currently takesup the highest portion of the govern-ment budget. However water projectsare less costly than other infrastructureprojects and can benefit thousands ofpeople at once. In a country where up to85% of the populace are farmers, cleansafe water remains a crucial yet limitedcommodity. Estimates have it that only4% of the country has access to pipedwater. The government and donor

funded Tanzania Rural Water Supplyand Sanitation Program (RWSSP) esti-mates water supply coverage at 73 %for urban areas and 53 % for rural ar-eas, with the sustained sanitation cov-erage estimated at around 50 %.

However independent organiza-tions in the sector put water and sani-tation coverage at a much lower 24%.In the commercial capital of Dar esSalaam for example, current daily wa-ter requirements are estimated 450mil-lion litres, while the actual supply fallsshort of this figure by more than150million litres per day. Furthermoremuch of the available water is lost

through system leakages and illegalconnections. The situation is far worsein other regions of the country wherean estimated 20,000 children die fromdiarrhea every year, mostly in the ruralareas.

Thousands more adults and chil-dren suffer from water related diseasesthat not only eat into family and gov-ernment budgets, but also deal a severeblow to manpower and productivity.

Increased temperatures andchanges in patterns of rainfall as a re-sult of climate change are widely recog-nized to entail serious consequences for

human health, including the risk of di-arrheal diseases like cholera. Indeed,there is strong evidence that tempera-ture and rainfall patterns affect the dis-ease patterns. It is expected that out-breaks of water related diseases likecholera will be further exacerbated bychanges in the climate whose effectsare already being felt across the coun-try.

The Tanzania MeteorologicalAgency (TMA) has warned farmersacross the country to brace for belownormal rainfall in the March to Mayrainfall season. This spells food short-ages for our rain dependent country, es-

pecially after below normal and poorlydistributed short rains were registeredin the September to December season.

A study conducted last year on theHealth Impacts of Climate Change inTanzania estimates that the numberand costs of additional cholera casesand deaths that can be attributed to cli-mate change by year 2030 in Tanzaniamay largely exceed the costs of preven-tive measures such as household chlo-rination. Analyses based on primarydata collected from the Ministry ofHealth and the TMA also showed a sig-nificant relationship between cholera

incidence and temperature. The studypredicted an increase in the initial riskratio for cholera in Tanzania in therange of 23 to 51 percent for a 1 degreeCelsius increase in annual mean tem-perature.

The study, conducted by SaraTrærup, Ramon Arigoni Ortiz and AnilMarkandya for the Basque Centre forClimate Change (BC3) further esti-mates that the total costs, includingloss of lives due to cholera will rangebetween 1.4 to 7.8 percent of GDP byyear 2030. Water borne diseases likediarrhea and cholera associated withcontamination, intermittency and poorsanitation, malaria, filariasis, denguefever associated with drainage, storageand waste water disposal and waterwashed diseases like scabies and skininfections associated with insufficientwater supply are also expected to peakwith poor water and sanitation supply.

The warning bells are not soundingin Tanzania alone. A weather and cli-mate outlook issued by the GreaterHorn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum(GHACOF-27) that took place inArusha in February of this year alsowarned of poor and un-uniformly dis-tributed precipitation. The forum re-viewed the state of the global climatesystem and its implications for theGreater Horn of Africa region and theregional outlook was downscaled byTMA experts to match with local condi-tions in Tanzania.

Global outlooks on the availabilityand supply of water for direct humanuse and agriculture purposes are alsonot in the least encouraging. A forth-night ago, the World Food Programme(WFP) raised the alarm on growingsigns of drought in the Horn of Africaregion that could lead to serious foodshortages.

The alert further warned that ris-ing food prices may put the organiza-tion’s budget under pressure. The U.S.-funded Famine Early WarningSystems Network (Fewsnet) has alsowarned East African countries to bracefor crunching food shortages in thecoming months. Other findings showthat Africa could lose up to 18% of itsarable land to climate change. The USNational Academy of Sciences also esti-mated last week that more than a bil-lion urban residents will face seriouswater shortages by 2050 as climatechange worsens the effects of urbaniza-tion.

In the face of this anticipated gloomin local, regional and global water out-looks, we laud the government’s newfound commitment to water. We antici-pate that this, alongwith the recent an-nouncement that Tanzania will benefitfrom a four year US$ 773million(TSH1.08 trillion) development assis-tance aid from the United Nations ofwhich five percent will go towards im-proving water and sanitation in theJuly 2011 – June 2015 period will helpto alleviate the anticipated water woes.

May these funds be prudently re-leased and utilized for the intendedpurposes.

However, there is still a needwholesome attitude change towardswater use and conservation across alllevels of governance and spheres of life.This still poses the greatest challengeto sustainable water management. Weall should carefully examine our waterhabits and discover our own ways ofconserving this precious yet limited re-source, to ensure that clean and safewater remains readily available for thisand coming generations.

Water - Top priorityfor Tanzania 2011-12

DAIRYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Wednesday 5 April, 2011

6

The Guardian KILIMO KWANZAPOLICY

Wednesday 5 April, 2011

7

By Angel Navuri

Tanzania Eastern andSouthern African DairyAssociation (ESADA) haschosen Tanzania to hostthe 7th African dairy con-ference exhibition as a

way to help the country’smilk industryfrom collapsing.

The conference is expected to bringtogether researchers, educationists,nutritionists and players in the dairyvalue chain.

Speaking to this paper TanDairiesLimited Chief Executive OfficerDevangwa Mmari said that theAfrican dairy conference exhibition isthe flagship event organized by east-ern southern African dairy associationof which the objectives is to highlightopportunities for dairy sector invest-ment in Africa with a focus on hostcountry and the sub region.

Mmari said that the conferencewill provide a platform for Africa andglobal dairy community to discuss andrecommend solutions to policy, regula-tory and industry bottlenecks that im-pede trade in dairy products.

He added that it will also affordAfrican processors, service providersand industry suppliers a unique oppor-tunity to showcase their products forbenchmarking and trade and exposeAfrican dairy practitioners and suppli-ers to new technologies and ideas forbetter efficiencies and quality.

The CEO explained that 20 coun-tries will be exhibiting products rang-ing from equipments for dairy sectoracross the value chain, pharmaceuticalcompanies, andmilk processors amongother suppliers and developing agen-cies.

Explaining how Tanzania will ben-efit from the conference said that in thepast it has been a challenge for Africandairy industry to access new technolo-gies which can help reduce the cost ofmilk production and increase profitmargins for all.

“Africa must be willing to learnfrom leading dairy countries of theworld , examine what these countriesare producing and other initiativesthey are making in this important sec-tor, it is an emerging dairy country inthe eastern and southern Africa regionwith great opportunities,” he explained

On his part Tanga Fresh executivedirector Hussein Alnoor said that thedemand for milk is estimated at about3.5 every year of which it creates ahuge opportunity for trade and invest-ment.

“We are also pleased thatmembersof the dairy industries from EAC andCOMESA countries will be here withus Tanzania at the fourth 7th Africandairy conference and exhibition so weexplore areas for trade and growthwhile taking the time to examine ourdifference and work on facilitatingtrade amongst our nations,” he ex-plained

According to Alnoor the conferencewill boast of a shining list of the worldrenown dairy industry leaders whowill

be traveling from far to come and sharetheir experience in the dairy industry.

“There will be some of the worldmost successful companies includingland O Lakes among others, we canlearn from themhow tomake the dairybusiness more profitable and reward-ing for all those involved,” he said.

The speakers will be addressingthe concerns and issues of improvingmilk production at farm level, stream-lining processing, effective product

marketing and distribution besidesother highly beneficial presentationfrom the leading dairy practitioners.

Recently it was reported thatTanzania’s dairy industry was collaps-ing as themilk processed per day dropsto 60,000 litres from 400,000.

The ongoing power shortage hashit dairy milk collections resulting in aloss of billions of shillings by processorsand farmers, and the gradual collapseof the industry.

According to a draft report by milkprocessors on improving competitive-ness of the dairy industry, lack of en-forcement of regulations vs informalpreparations has been cited as a majorcause.

The report says that experience inother countries has shown that regula-tory interventions alone cannot elimi-nate the sale of unprocessed milk.

“It appears that this has to go handin hand with risks involved in the con-

sumption of rawmilk,” the draft reportsays.

Further, it says that the price ofprocessed milk has to come down sig-nificantly to make it affordable to lowincome consumers, who are otherwiseunwilling to pay for the costs of pas-teurisation and packaging.

The country’s dairy processing in-dustry has shrunk bymore than 80 percent over the last 15 years, the reportsays, adding that it has become un-competitive on the domestic market(narrow and expensive range of prod-ucts) and is not export oriented.

At least, thirteen dairy plants havegone out of business and the totalamount of milk processed per day isonly 60,000 litres (down from 400,000litres), the report concludes.

By Stella Barozi

It’s on a Saturday morning andas usual, beggars and theirchildren are busy begging frommotorists at the Fire Morogororoad and United Nations roadintersection. “Shikamoo.

Saidia! (Good morning. Please help!),”says a small boy in a soft pleadingvoice to one of the passengers in thedala dala. A few meters away is a girlprobably aged seven, wearing a blueskirt, black top and dirty blue slippers.She is dark and looking at her, onecould tell she had not had a shower forGod knows how long.

“Why can’t these beggar mothersgive a decent life to their children bygoing back to the village and engage inagriculture?” I wonder silently as Iwatch the children begging as theirmothers sit on the other side of theroad, some nursing little ones. Whycan’t the able-bodied mothers till theland and earn themselves a living?This is a question many people askthemselves every time they see beg-gars on the street.

But if farming was the solution totheir problem, that is poverty, howcome they keep coming back to the cityevery time they are ferried back to

their villages? Or could it be that beg-ging pays more than farming? It couldbe. Most beggars come from semi-aridDodoma, although, generally, agricul-ture doesn’t pay given the fact thatmost farmers in the country are smallholders who depend on the hand hoe.Studies show that 70 per cent of farm-ers use the hand hoe, 20 per cent useanimal draft and only ten per cent usetractors.

According to the 2007 HouseholdBudget Survey, most Tanzanians are

still smallholder farmers. The surveyalso indicates that agriculture is theleast remunerative sector of the econo-my. The poverty rate among house-holds in rural areas continues to bevery high at 38% compared with 16%in the urban areas. As a result, almostthree quarters (74%) of the poor are de-pendent on agriculture.

So the beggars on the street, likemany other people who flock cities insearch of a decent life, have been run-ning away from the wide spread pover-

ty caused by low productivity in agri-culture.

Low productivity is partly due tothe fact that apart from owning smallplots of land and depending on thehand hoe, most farmers lack modernfarming methods like use of tractorsand depend on unreliable rain.

A Comparative Analysis of PovertyIncidence in Farming Systems ofTanzania by Raymond Mnenwa andEmmanuel Maliti shows that “utiliza-tion of agricultural inputs by house-

holds such as irrigation, extensionservices, draft animal power and fertil-izers” is generally low across all farm-ing systems in Tanzania.

And as far as land ownership isconcerned, Mnenwa and Maliti saythat most households in Tanzania (67per cent) own between zero and twoacres of cultivated land. This meansthat only one third of households uti-lize more than two acres. According tothese researchers, there are ten majorfarming systems in Tanzania whichare classified based on different crite-ria. These include natural resourcebase, climate, landscape, farm size,dominant patterns of farm activitiesand household livelihood as well as themain technologies used in farming.

Their analysis reveals that the sizeof cultivated land varies greatly byfarming system. The sorghum/millet(Mwanza and Shinyanga) andTea/Maize (Njombe and Mufindi)farming systems have larger propor-tions of households with land holdingsabove two acres (46% and 41% respec-tively).

Mnenwa and Maliti’s study foundthat poverty is found in all farmingsystems in Tanzania and that the inci-dence varies remarkably by system.Scholars have it that poverty reductionwill only be possible if problems thatfarmers face in generating income willbe addressed.

We need to consider the fact thatfarmers’ poverty also affects urbandwellers. Research has it that agricul-tural growth can reduce urban povertymore quickly than urban growth itselfdue to the reduction in urban food costsand lower rates of rural-urban migra-tion.

This brings us to the current highcost of living. There of late has been ahike in the prices of almost everything.Yet, the income of the majority re-mains the same. The price hikes do nottake this into consideration at all.

During ITV’s Kipima Joto pro-gramme last Friday where the topicdiscussed was on what should be doneon the current high inflation rate,Repoa’s Prof. Samwel Wangwe said in-flation was not to blame but income.

Giving an example of previousyears where inflation rates hadreached two digits, Prof. Wangwe whois Repoa’s Executive Director said thecurrent 6.5 rate from last year’s 5.5 isnot that high. He said the majority ofpeople earned a low income and there-fore felt the effect of the food inflation.

The economy has increased andcurrently stands at 7 per cent. This in-crement does not reflect on all the peo-ple. This is why Prof. Wangwe sayseconomic growth should reflect on thelives of themajority, especially farmerswho account for 80 per cent of the pop-ulation. “Economic growth should re-flect on the income of the majority,” hesaid.

Prof. Wangwe says the solution isprioritising agriculture where the ma-jority poor population is for if farmersincrease productivity, so will their in-come. He said Kilimo Kwanza policyshould be re-evaluated if a green revo-lution is to be achieved.

On his part, the Director ofEconomic Research and Policy, JosephMassawe said we need to use our nat-ural resources like land well in order toimprove people’s income. This way,perhaps we will be able to do awaywith beggars on the street. They willhave something productive to engagein.

Economic growthshould reflect onlives of majority

Tanzania to hostregional milkconference

DAIRYThe Guardian KILIMO KWANZA Wednesday 5 April, 2011

8

By Angel Navuri

Inasurprise turnaround, local milk processorsin Tanzania are considering to import rawmilk from the neighboring countries of Kenyaand Uganda. This, they claim, is to mull cur-rent milk production shortfalls in the country.The recent past has seen the government im-

posing a controversial ban on foreign milk processingfarms from the neighboring countries collecting rawmilk from Tanzania. The foreign firms would trans-port the milk across the border for processing andpackaging and then re-import finished products to thecountry. However the current alleged shortage of rawmilk in Tanzania now has local processors consider-ing importing raw milk from the neighboring states.

Speaking in an interview with Kilimo Kwanza,TAN Dairies Chief Executive Officer DevangwaMmari said that the ongoing shortage is caused by ad-verse dry weather conditions and poor infrastructurethat makes it difficult for the processors to reachfarmers and milk collection points.

“We are currently facing shortage of milk whichleaves us no choice but to import milk from the neigh-boring countries of Kenya andUganda,” he explained.Giving details on the current situation, he said thatmilk processing has dropped from 400,000 litres perday to a mere 60,000 litres.

Surprisingly Tanzania has the third highestnumber of livestock in the continent with

herd figures that far surpasses its neighbouring

states. However dominated by traditional low yield-ing livestock breeds, the country still faces milk short-ages in dry seasons. A Preliminary National SampleCensus of Agriculture and Livestock report unveiledby the Minister for Agriculture, Food Security andCooperatives Prof Jumannne Maghembe (pictured) afortnight ago claimed significant progress in the live-

stock sector, with a corresponding increase in thenumber of cattle to 22million head. The report amongother things noted that 97.2 per cent of cattle in thecountry are local breeds, where only 2.4 per cent areused for dairy and 0.3 per cent for beef production.According to sample census the number of localbreeds of cattle increased by 20 per cent on the main-land but decreased by 3.7% in Zanzibar.

In a show of support for the local milk industry,late last year the government announced a halt onraw milk exports, an unexpected halt that was re-ceived mixed reactions across the milk sector.

Milk farmers hit the headlines, complaining thatthe unexpected freeze had severed a lucrative foreignsource of income. At which point local milk processorslauded themove and urged the government to extendfurther support to local investment in the industry.Now it’s this.

According to the Executive Director of TangaFresh Ltd, Hussein Alnoor, the current tax regimedoes not support milk processing in the country.While the milk sector is given tax exempt status inTanzania, it is zero rated in the neighbouring EACstates, making it more expensive to process milk inTanzania as compared to Kenya and Uganda.

“They can process more milk than Tanzania. Forexample we only process up to 60,00 litres per daywhile in Kenya daily processing is more than 1.2 mil-lion litres per day,” he claimed, adding that cost effec-tiveness was behind the competitiveness of the for-eign milk products across the African market.

Recently the local milk stakeholders also took upissue with the ongoing power shortages that adverse-ly hit dairy milk collections, resulting in estimatedlosses of billions of shillings by both processors andfarmers. This, they claimed, was precipitating a grad-ual collapse of the industry.

According to a draft report on improving compet-itiveness of the dairy industry produced by the milkprocessors, the dairy processing industry has shrunkby more than 80 per cent over the last 15 years. Thereport adds that locally processed milk has becomeuncompetitive on the domestic market due to a nar-row and expensive range of products that is not exportoriented. At least, thirteen dairy plants have gone outof business and the total amount of milk processedper day is only 60,000 litres (down from 400,000litres), the report concludes.

“Prevailing power blues mean that we are not col-lecting as much milk as we used to. The average col-lection of a milk processing factory is currently esti-mated at 30,000 litres a day, which is too little for thecountry even if all the industries were to collect thesame amount,” the Tanga Fresh Executive Directorsaid.

“If we cannot meet the demands of Dar es Salaamalone, how can we satisfy the country’s demand?” hequeried.

“This is a major hindrance to the milk sector. Weare sometimes forced to use generators which are notvery effective as they can only operate for a fewhours,” he added.

Alnoor cited the need to createmore awareness onmodern livestock breeding methods to increase pro-duction as one of the key needs in the industry.

As part of its efforts to support the milk industry,the government exempted VAT on machinery andequipment used in the collection, transportation andprocessing of milk products in the 2010/2011 budget.This was an extension of exemptions to promote in-vestment in the dairy subsector and improve farmers’income. Milk and juice producers were also supposedto gain from exemptions on the supply of packagingmaterials for milk products and fruit juices.

The budget also offered special relief status on thesupply of veterinary equipment to registered veteri-nary practitioners and on artificial inseminationbreeding services. This, it was hoped, would boost thedevelopment of improved and commercially viablebreeds of cattle.

With the current outlook, it is doubtful that thesupport for artificial insemination and veterinaryservices has resulted in improved livestock breedsthat was originally intended. Furthermore the com-plaints by local processors seem to indicate that posi-tive gains are yet to be achieved in the local milk andlivestock industry as a whole.

Currently Tanzania has the third largest herd inthe continent but the livestock sector contributes only4 per cent to the GDP, while post harvest losses in themilk industry are estimated at an unacceptable 40%.

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

Achelis Tanganyika Ltd+255 22 2700 760 or +255 784 300 084

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

Milk – Local processorsnow look outward

Available in Stock - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Contact Details: +255 22 2700 760 or +255 784 300 084

achelis@raha.com

xxxxxx