TANZANIA Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (TANSHEP) second Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting will be held in Dodoma today.
TANSHEP is a five-year project that started last January and is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
TANSHEP, according to a press release issued by JICA, focuses on promoting market oriented horticulture development by applying SHEP— Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion.
The approach initiated by JICA, which realizes “market–oriented agriculture” by changing farmers’ mindsets from “grow and sell” mentality towards “grow to sell.
“It encourages horticulture producers to conduct market survey first and collaborate with relevant stakeholders, [ like] buyers, suppliers and even intermediaries, to improve production and marketability… ” the statement said.
The statement said Permanent Secretaries (PSs) of PORALG and Ministry of Agriculture are expecting to attend the meeting.
For instance, the statement said, farmers in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga benefit by adapting “Grow to Sell” concept after attending TANSHEP trainings.
The trainers said cultivation of crops especially horticultural requires a lot of careful planning considering that their lifespan can be quite limited given the prevailing conditions in the country.
“That is why farmers are counselled not to just grow crops for the sake of growing but grow crops whose market is already assured,” the release said.
Since conducting market survey before production is more reliable and profitable approach than just producing and then selling.
“Market survey helps the farmers to know particular needs of the buyers including seed variety, size and colors of the products, and volume,” the statement said.
The series of project activities such as baseline survey, market survey, and match making by TANSHEP has reached some 53 farmers’ groups and extension officers in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions.
JICA’s technical cooperation project TANSHEN, namely the “Project for Strengthening District Agriculture Development Plans’ Planning and Implementation Capacity through the use of Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion “SHEP Approach”.
