Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA and Italy have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening collaboration in the agricultural sector, focusing on enhancing food security resilience, promoting value addition and facilitating the exchange of expertise.
The commitment was recently made by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Daniel Chongolo, during talks with the Italian Ambassador to Tanzania, Ambassador Giuseppe Coppola in Dar es Salaam.
“Tanzania has maintained strong cooperation with Italy through a programme known as the Mattei Plan Initiative. Through this programme, Tanzania expects to benefit from projects focused on food security resilience, value addition in coffee and financial support to strengthen the Agricultural Development Bank,” he said.
He added that empowering the Agricultural Development Bank is equivalent to empowering farmers across the country, as it will enable them to access capital aimed at increasing production and adopting modern farming practices.
Mr Chongolo further said Tanzania and Italy have collaborated for many years in development matters, including agriculture.
He recalled that in the 1990s, when Tanzania experienced a severe drought, Italy provided food aid to the government. On his part, Ambassador Coppola said that his government is committed to strengthening cooperation by investing in the agricultural sector, particularly in technologies that enhance value addition in coffee production, as well as through the exchange of expertise.
Tanzania is among the 14 priority countries identified by the Italian government under the Mattei Plan, with key partnership areas including agricultural value addition, ICT development, digital transformation and related sectors aimed at boosting economic growth and connectivity.
The Mattei Plan is an initiative by the Italian government designed to promote cooperation, energy security and development in Africa through a non-exploitative partnership approach.
The 14 priority countries selected for pilot projects and strategic partnerships are: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and Tunisia.
The plan focuses on sectors such as energy, agriculture, education and water management. Examples include agricultural projects in Algeria and Mozambique, as well as renewable energy investments in Egypt.
The initiative aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, aiming to create developmental “bridges” in energy and logistics between Africa and Europe.
