Home Features Action Aid stress importance of increasing investment and funding in Tanzania’s agriculture

Action Aid stress importance of increasing investment and funding in Tanzania’s agriculture

by Grace Kisembo

The government has been urged to commit more funds to initiatives aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change and enhancing the country’s organic agriculture performance.

Smallholder farmers should have easier access to money and crucial inputs, according to agriculture stakeholders.

Action Aid Country Director Bavon Christopher stressed the importance of increasing investment and funding in agriculture during his opening remarks at a special Dissemination Workshop for the 3rd Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Biennial Review (BR) Report Tanzania.

“Agricultural performance in Tanzania, as it is in many countries is greatly facing myriad challenge of climate change, among others, the situation which calls for serious interventions,” he observed.

He said unfriendly conditions set by several financial institutions in getting loans for capital for small scale farmers were coupled with skyrocketed prices for agro- machineries, leading to poor crop yield and productivity.

For her part, Ms Constance Okeke, Action Aid International Project Manager, Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture (SOPIA), said Tanzania was however among the countries so far managed to make some efforts in attaining the set targets of the CAADP.

She briefed that, among the key goals include poverty reduction through agriculture in all CAADP member countries by 2025, boosting intra- Africa trade in agriculture commodities and services as well as enhancing mutual accountability for action and results, among others.

“The CAADP agenda has also set key pillars for the member countries to attain food security and agriculture improvement,” she revealed.

According to her, the pillars are sustainable land and water management, market access, food supply and hunger and agriculture research.

Sharing his views, Audax Rukonge, Executive Director of the Agriculture Non State Actors Forum (ANSAF), stated that the country needed more efforts to make useful mechanism to finance the smallholder farmers.

In their joint statement, representatives of smallholder women farmers from Mainland and Isles lamented over poor access to key agriculture services, especially loans from financial institutions.

Moreover, they challenged the government to see a possibility to educate and assist them (smallholder farmers) to register and how to benefit from different crop insurance services.

The meeting ,which involved members from the parliamentary agriculture committee, was held over the weekend under the financial patronage from Action Aid Tanzania with a view to review and brainstorm how the country can successfully attain the set goals of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) by 2025.

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