YARA Tanzania, one of the largest fertiliser manufacturers and distributors in the country, has assured farmers that it is working closely with stakeholders to ensure that the input reaches farmers on time and for a price that was friendly to smallholder growers.
Yara Tanzania Managing Director, Winstone Odhiambo said the company is also collaborating with the government to address challenges that may have slowed down the delivery of fertiliser under the subsidy programme.
“I want to assure farmers that Yara is committed and will work towards tackling any challenges so that they receive fertiliser timely in the coming season. I am confident that with the improvement of the fertiliser subsidy digital platform by the government, supplies will now be speeded up,” said Mr Odhiambo.
He was speaking at the weekend during a meeting in Dar es Salaam between the company and its fertiliser dealers drawn from different parts of the country. The meeting, the company said, was to review their performance for last season and map out new strategies for the coming season.
Nearly 50 dealers who attended the two-day meeting appealed for timely release of payments of fertiliser supplies under the subsidy programme so that it was easy for them to serve farmers’ needs on time.
A representative of the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory Agency (TFRA) who attended the meeting explained that the agency’s online Agro dealer tool has been improved to fix bottlenecks that hindered smooth performance.
The improved digital tool will now enable fertiliser dealers effectively manage their fertiliser orders across different suppliers and also in the movement of stock. The government last financial year introduced subsidised fertiliser and allocated Sh150 billion towards the effort.
Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe revealed in June that the government had spent 345.6bn/- by April 2023 to buy fertiliser.
According to the minister, 342.73 million tonnes of fertiliser were procured during the period and benefited 782,553 farmers across the country.
To improve the supply of its fertilisers and other crop nutrients, as well as empower Tanzanian owned businesses, Yara Tanzania has enrolled its distributors on a profitable champion programme, with dealers earning millions of shillings in annual bonuses and family leisure trips.
“At Yara, our network of distributors does not only sell fertiliser but we have a holistic approach where we empower them to also become agents of empowering farmers who are their customers with agronomist knowledge and practice to boost yields and income, mostly among smallholder growers,” said Mr Odhiambo.
Yara senior agronomist Maulid Mponda Mkima said through the company’s new technology manufacturing plant in Dar es Salaam, Yara is contributing to farmers’ empowerment and food security through its range of blended fertiliser called Microp, rich in nutrients, affordable and withstanding drought.
