AMDT to inject 4bn/- in sunflower, pulses value chains
THE Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT) is investing over 4bn/- to facilitate various interventions meant to transform sunflower and pulses subsectors in the country.
This amount will be issued as grants to nine partner organisations and government institutions that will co-facilitate the implementation of agricultural development projects in 11 regions of Tanzania.
The regions to be covered by the project are Manyara, Singida, Dodoma, Morogoro, Arusha, Lindi, Mtwara, Songwe, Ruvuma, Njombe and Rukwa.
“This investment will benefit over 100,000 farmers in 11 regions in the 2022/2023 farming season,” AMDT Chief Executive Officer, Mr Charles Ogutu told journalists in Dar es Salaam on Thursday.
He said the investment will focus on interventions that feed into the government’s priorities in the agricultural sector as defined in the Agenda 10/30 and the Agricultural Sector Development Programmes (ASDP) II.
Among the key focus areas, the investment will facilitate for farmers the enhancement of availability and access to improved seeds, access to finance in the two crop sectors, business development services and good agricultural practices including post-harvest management.
Additionally, the projects will also improve access to rural advisory services and value addition in sunflower and pulses.
Mr Ogutu said currently, project agreements allow implementation up to year 2023. However, it is expected that well performing partnerships will be extended for another year up to 2024.
As crosscutting and prerequisite requirements, all interventions will adhere to gender transformative approaches to ensure equitable and meaningful participation and benefit for women, youth and men.
Moreover, climate smart agriculture practices and technologies will be strengthened in all projects and partnerships to tackle the effects of climate change to enable farmers to become more resilient.
Speaking on the investment, Mr Ogutu underscored the need for partnerships for development between the public and private sectors actors as a sure way of consolidating efficacy and deliverability in Tanzania’ agricultural transformation.
“The current global socio-economic context clearly aligns developing and emerging economies as the future pillars for world food security and growth. Without transforming our agricultural economy, one sector at a time, Tanzania will miss out on very important opportunities.”
He added, “Historically, now is the best and most opportune moment to invest in Tanzanian agriculture. The government through the Ministry of Agriculture has already shown the way by injecting the biggest budget for the sector, with clear priorities. Our work, our effort together with our partners and collaborators is to support the national transformation of our main economic sector – agriculture”.
Budget allocation for the agriculture sector has increased to a whopping 954bn/- for the financial year 2022/2023 up from 294bn/- which was allocated during the previous fiscal year.
He said that AMDT’s work has one goal – to unleash large scale positive changes in agriculture leading to broad and sustained impact on the lives of thousands of productive people with increased opportunities for employment and income.
The government has placed agriculture central to the industrialisation drive as articulated in the Third Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP III) 2021/2022-2025/2026. The sector remains central to Tanzania’s industrialisation and a source of livelihood for approximately 65.0 per cent of the population.
