AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT John Magufuli last week directed the Ministry of Trade and Industries to repossess all privatised non-operational industries in Morogoro Region and give them to new investors so that they may create jobs and contribute to the industrial economy.
President Magufuli insisted that Tanzania was still a better place for investment while assuring investors that his government would protect their interests.
One of the defunct industries mentioned by President Magufuli is Morogoro Oil Processing Company which was supposed to increase production and addressing a shortage of edible oil in the country.
The use of improved seeds and empowering farmers to use modern farming methods are among the strategies implemented in various seed oil producing areas in the country.
Oilseeds are produced in almost all regions in the country. The major sources of edible oil in Tanzania are sunflower, palms, groundnuts, sesame, soya beans and cotton.
This shows the huge potential for edible oil production, but traditional farming methods still poses a big challenge to productive agriculture.
For example, Tanzania is the leading producer of coconut in Africa, but still its initiatives to develop and increase production do not benefit its farmers and address the importation of edible oil.
Training farmers in better agricultural technologies to cultivate oilseeds is a strategy that can help close the production gap and minimise the importation of goods.
Furthermore, to protect and foster the production of edible oil the government has been imposing some tariffs as way of discouraging imports. This is in line with the country’s edible oil strategy 2016/20.
Tanzania imports nearly 50 per cent of its edible oil while demand stands at between 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes per year, which shows a wide domestic market and an apparent potential development of the cooking oil industry.
With demand forecast to increase from 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes by 2030, Tanzania guarantees a growing market for investors for the foreseeable future.
This is for local investors’ unique opportunity to utilise and invest in edible oil production that guarantees reliable readymade markets.
Boosting edible oil production in the country has a huge multiplier effects on both saving the use of the country’s foreign exchange on imports as well improved living standards to smallholder farmers by guaranteeing reliable markets.
Therefore, increased investment and the transformation of the oilseeds industry will not only relieve the government of the burden of importation, but also improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the country.
