Dar, Chinese firm deal to revitalise cassava farming

THE production of cassava in the country has received a major boost after the government recently signed a deal with a Chinese firm worth over 2.5trl/- aimed at commercialising its farming.

Opening the annual review and planning meeting of the African Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) here yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Mathew Mtigumwe, said in the agreement, China will ensure consumption of 2.5 million metric tonnes of cassava from Tanzania, every year.

The agreement was signed recently between the government and the Chinese firm called Tanzania Agricultural Export Processing Zone Limited and Epoch Agriculture (TAEPZ), with the technical assistance of ACAI.

“Apart from commercialising cassava farming and processing, a number of strategic products such ashigh quality flour, starch, animal feeds and paper pulp serve as a great opportunity for ACAI to link farmers in this existing market in our country,” he said.

According to the PS whose speech was read on his behalf by the Director of Research and Development in the Ministry, Mr Geofrey Gaspar, Tanzania currently has about 1.2 million smallholder farmers who produce about 4.4 million metric tonnes, indicating it still has a long way to go to satisfy the emerging market.

However, he said the country has already taken some steps including listing cassava in important policy initiatives such as Tanzania Development Vision of 2025 as one of the crucial crops in fighting poverty. Regardless of all the merits, he said, cassava average yield obtained by farmers in the country currently is about 2 tonnes only per hectare compared to the potential of at least 6 tonnes per hectare.

“The yield gap is mainly caused by many factors including but not limited to viral diseases and poor agronomic practices and we thank the ongoing funded researches in the country targeting to improve this situation,” the PS said.

In Tanzania, ACAI is undertaken in major cassava producing areas in Lake, Eastern and Southern Zones as well as Zanzibar with almost 80 per cent of the harvests is for food security and income generation. The five-year (2016- 2020) ACAI project is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is undertaken in five countries of Sub Saharan Africa.

The agreement between Tanzania and the Chinese firm has come at a time when the Asian nation is in high demand of dry cassava for production of ethanol fuel for its plan to reduce the use of petrol and diesel.

In October this year, Tanzania Ambassador to China, Mr Mbelwa Kairuki, told Tanzania journalists who toured China that the second largest economy in the world offered an opportunity to some countries, including Tanzania to supply cassava to its market.

It was during the sixth China - Tanzania Business Forum held in Guangzhou, China when Ambassador Kairuki, told reporters that China wanted to reduce the use of diesel and petrol by 20 per cent by 2020, a move that prompted it to seek more supply of dry cassava for production of ethanol fuel to reduce air pollution.

During the forum, Mr Du Chwan, Director of Sinolight Company, a firm that engages in dry cassava business, told reporters that his company was in need of 100,000 tonnes of the dried produce every month. According to him, last year, the company imported 10 million tonnes of dry cassava.