By Khalifa Hemed
Published May 28, 2019
Tanzania, whose backbone is agriculture, is focusing on agricultural development and rural transformation for the benefit of poor smallholder farmers.
Agriculture, according to statistics, drives the economy of Tanzania in the production of food, creation of employment, production of raw materials for industries and generation of foreign exchange earnings.
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According to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations that says it has since 1978 financed 15 rural development programmes and projects in Tanzania for a total cost of $839.59 million, directly benefiting about 4 million rural households, agriculture contributes up to 80 per cent of export earnings and employs nearly 75 per cent of the workforce in the East African country.
Consequently, IFAD says it will continue supporting the government’s strategies for agricultural development and rural transformation for the benefit of poor smallholder farmers.
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Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, visited Tanzania May 19 – 21, 2019 where he met President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, Minister for Finance and Planning, Philip Mpango, Minister for Agriculture, Japhet Ngailonga Hasunga, and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, Jenista Mhagama, to discuss investments to improve food and nutrition security, provide employment opportunities for rural youth and reduce poverty.
The visit of Houngbo focused on the role of smallholder farmers in ensuring food security in Tanzania, the challenges posed by climate change, the opportunities agriculture can offer to rural youth and the need for greater investment to transform agriculture into a highly productive and competitive sector.
