DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania: June 20 (Xinhua) — Tanzanian government has allocated over ten million U.S. dollars in the 2012/13 fiscal year for implementation of the Tanzania Agricultural Food Security Investment Plan (TAFSIP) in the southern part of the country.
Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Christopher Chiza was quoted by the Guardian published on Wednesday saying that the target is to increase food availability and ensure nutrition security.
Chiza said about 350,000 hectares in Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) will be developed with infrastructure for irrigation, processing and markets.
“This program is part of the ‘Kilimo Kwanza’ strategy. Its implementation will include the private sector and small farmers in Coast region, Morogoro, Mbeya, Iringa, Rukwa,” he said.
He made the statement when opening the Rice Crop Exhibition workshop and regional review in Dar Es Salaam, which has attracted participants from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.
The G8 countries have pledged to contribute in implementation of TAFSIP through donation of 898 million dollars in a conference held in Camp David, the United States in May this year.
Despite challenges facing rice farmers in Tanzania, production of the crop doubled in 2007/2008 whereby the production reached 1, 346,340 tons, he said. The government also introduced the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) in 2009 which aims at improving cultivation of the crop. (Xinhua)
