MOROGORO: THE Zanzibar State Trading Corporation (ZSTC) is looking forward to purchasing approximately 500 tonnes of cloves grown by farmers in Tanga and Morogoro regions during the 2024/2025 financial year.
ZSTC Managing Director, Soud Said told Zanzibar House of Representatives Standing Committee for Tourism, Trade and Agriculture Committee in Morogoro that the corporation is well prepared for the business and ensure all cloves grown in Tanga and Morogoro are purchased.
The committee was led by its Chairperson, Mtumwa Peya Yusuph.
The committee members visited Morogoro to verify the ongoing discussions between the Morogoro Regional Commissioner’s Office and Zanzibar’s Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development through the ZSTC regarding the potential collaboration in the clove trade.
Mr Said stated that ZSTC will continue to support farmers who grow cloves and ensure improvement of the livelihoods of lowincome communities.
He said clove production helps to maintain the historic union between Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland. He insisted that the collaboration includes exchanging experiences and finding ways to address challenges as they arise.
“This year’s harvest is expected to be small, but we are still committed to buying even the small quantities of cloves available,” he said.
He advised farmers in Morogoro who have received training from the corporation to continue improving their practices, as some still fail to plant cloves at the recommended spacing according to expert guidelines.
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However, he acknowledged that there are also farmers who are planting cloves according to the recommended spacing, and their farms are thriving.
The Morogoro Regional Administrative Secretary, Dr Mussa Ali Mussa said the region aims to produce over one million clove seedlings this year, through various farmer groups.
Dr Mussa explained that based on the current projections of 2,000 tonnes of clove production, farmers could generate at least 40bn/-.
He said if the district authorities properly collect the 3percent revenue from each kilogramme of cloves, they could raise at least 1.8bn/- during the season.
“Although the Morogoro District Council has not been able to achieve this yet, they are gradually making progress and will eventually be able to record greater achievements ,” said the RAS.
Meanwhile, Committee Chairperson, Mtumwa explained that the purpose of the visit to Morogoro was to assess the progress of the discussions between ZSTC and the Morogoro regional administration concerning clove production.
“They want to work together on this business, and ZSTC also needs to lease a warehouse space for purchasing cloves from Morogoro,” said Mtumwa.
