Minister urges stronger agricultural financing collaboration

BUKOBA: MINISTER for Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Bashiru Ally, has called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, financial institutions and other stakeholders to accelerate transformation of the country’s agricultural sector and support the country’s ambition of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy.

Dr Bashiru said agriculture is central to the National Development Vision 2050, with increased productivity in crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry critical to economic transformation.

Speaking after witnessing the launch of the Cooperative Bank Tanzania Kagera Branch on Tuesday, he urged financial institutions to channel more resources into agriculture and strengthen value chains to enable farmers to increase productivity and incomes.

“Vision 2050 places agriculture at the heart of economic transformation through increased productivity in crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry. The sector is among key drivers of our country’s economic transformation and its success will be crucial in attaining Vision 2050,” he said.

The minister said improving agricultural productivity through technology, infrastructure and modern farming practices would help overcome limitations facing smallholder farmers and unlock the sector’s full potential.

He said improved agricultural performance would also contribute to poverty reduction and help raise Tanzania’s per capita income to 7,000 US dollars annually.

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Dr Bashiru particularly encouraged livestock keepers to adopt modern dairy farming instead of maintaining large herds of unproductive animals.

He said Kagera had favourable conditions for quality beef production and ranching, urging investors to enter public-private partnerships to optimise existing commercial ranches.

“Tanzania has a large livestock population, but opportunities in the dairy sector remain underutilised,” he said.

The minister said the government had prioritised dairy production as a driver of industrialisation, food and nutrition security and income generation.

He said the dairy sector currently contributes about 30 per cent of domestic livestock production and around 1.2 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Dr Bashiru commended Cooperative Bank Tanzania for its rapid growth and increasing support to cooperatives, farmers and other businesses.

The bank’s Managing Director, Mr Godfrey Ng’urah, said the lender had disbursed 135.7bn/- in loans by June this year, up from 27.8bn/- in June 2025, representing a 388 per cent increase.

He said customer deposits rose from 53.01bn/- to 156.4bn/- during the same period, equivalent to a 195 per cent increase.

Net interest income increased from 1.97bn/- to 4.7bn/- , while shareholders’ funds rose from 34.7bn/- to 46.4bn/-, representing a 34 per cent increase.

Mr Ng’urah said the bank had also expanded its branches from four to seven, while its workforce grew from 69 to 113 employees.