‘Agriculture remains steady despite climate change’
DESPITE effects of climate change, agriculture sector still contributes immensely to the country’s economy.
Assistant Director of Policy and Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture, Gunga Mibavu, affirmed over the weekend in Morogoro.
He was speaking on behalf of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Andrew Massawe, when opening the working session of the National Ecological Agriculture Strategy (NEOAS), which aims to protect the environment and produce enough food.
“Despite facing various challenges, like unreliable rains caused by climate change effects, the agricultural sector has continued to contribute immensely to the country’s economy,” he said.
This is because the ministry introduced measures such as developing the strategy to strengthen and develop organic agriculture for the sustainable agriculture and to promote environment-friendly farming which are essential for people’s health and food security.
Mr Mibavu added that in order to ensure agriculture remains the major driver of the economic development, his ministry in collaboration with other government agencies and various agricultural stakeholders has prepared a national strategy whose implementation started in 2022 till 2030.
“The implementation of this strategy is for the next eight (8) years and will take into consideration key agricultural aspects like strengthening availability of organic farming inputs, marketing, processing, research development, coordination, training, and technology,” Mibavu said.
He said since implementation started in 2021, the strategy has gone through various stages and has now been submitted to stakeholders for review and to give their opinions.
The agriculture contributed 26.1 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year 2021 and 61.5 per cent of employments in the same period.
The sector, according to the ministry, provided 65 per cent of all industrial raw materials used in the country.
The Chairman of the committee of experts who prepared the Ecological Agriculture strategy, Mr Revelian Ngaiza, said the government must ensure that it protects the environment and agriculture.
On his part, a farmer from Masasi District, Mtwara region, Noel Kwai, said the strategy is a guidance to farmers because it informs farmers about ecological agriculture which is still unknown to most farmers.
“I grow different types of crops including peas and cashews, we have been mixing them and it helps produce enough crops even if there is shortage of rains,” said Kwai.
