THE Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) expects to spend 750m/- for the production of 4.5 million coffee seedlings, which will be distributed freely to farmers.
Kalinzi Ward Agricultural Officer Mr Richard Mwakyusa said this while presenting performance report to the Uhuru Torch Race National Leader Mr Abdalla Shaib, when the torch visited a nursery for production of the best coffee (Compact) seedlings in Kigoma District.
Mr Mwakyusa said that the production that started this farming season is part of the government’s strategy to increase coffee production in Kigoma Region, whereby the plan will enable coffee production to increase from 1.1 tonnes per hectare in 2023/2024 to 1.5 tonnes per hectare in 2024/2025.
The agricultural officer said that the production of quality seedlings will enable expansion of coffee plantations from the current 1,500 hectares to 3,000 hectares in 2024/2025, while the council’s income from coffee is expected to increase from the current 60m/- per year to 120m/-.
Speaking about the productivity of the project, the leader of Uhuru Torch, Abdallah Shaib said that the executives should closely supervise the implementation of the projects, so that the benefit can be seen.
Shaib said that coffee is one of the crops that have been profitable if managed closely, so he has praised the plan to increase coffee production in Kigoma Region which will significantly increase the income of small farmers.
