Africa-Press – Tanzania. MINISTER for Agriculture Hussein Bashe has reassured Members of Parliament (MPs) regarding the disbursement of funds for his ministry, acknowledging past challenges but highlighting significant progress and the securing of substantial external financing.
Addressing concerns when winding up MPs contributions on Thursday, Mr Bashe conceded that achieving 100 per cent budget disbursement remains an aspiration.
He revealed that during his tenure as Deputy Minister under Joseph Hasunga, disbursement stood at around 30 per cent.
However, this improved to 60 per cent-70 per cent when he served under Prof Adolf Mkenda, even with a budget of approximately 297bn/- at that time.
“I understand you very well, Honourable Members of Parliament, the point that there hasn’t been 100 per cent sufficient disbursement is everyone’s desire,” Bashe told the House.
“But I want to encourage you. Of the 600bn/- we’ve received up to April, we’ve continued our engagement with my colleague the Minister of Finance. We expect to continue receiving funds within May and June. I believe by the time we conclude this financial year, a large portion of the funds will be obtained.”
Crucially, Bashe emphasised the ministry’s success in securing funds outside the conventional budget system.
“The great importance is to seek funds outside the normal system,” he stated.
He added: “Right now, we’ve received funds from the World Bank and the Honourable Minister for Finance approved 154 million US dollars for us (about 414.71bn/-). All of these will go towards (construction of) dams.”
He said: “Just recently, he approved another 300 million US dollars (about 807.9bn/-) for us. And just recently, we received 120 million US dollars (about 323.1bn/-) from the African Development Bank (AfDB). These funds will be used for Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) and agriculture finance.”
Bashe also announced new support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): ” We received 40 million US dollars (about 107.8bn/-) from IFAD. The use of these funds will be visible next year,” he said.
Members of Parliament approved 1.242tri/- budget for the ministry, down from the 1.248tri/- allocated for the current financial year but some of them expressed concerns of under disbursement of allocated budget saying that undermine the potential of the sector to drive growth and development and reduce poverty.
Earlier, the MPs asked the government to disburse funds to the Ministry as endorsed in the budget so that various projects could be executed as planned for the development of the agriculture sector.
“We must pressure the Ministry of Finance to release the funds so that the good goals set by the ministry can be fulfilled,” asked a Special Seat MP, Esther Bulaya (Chadema).
The MP for Muhimbwe Constituency in Kigoma Region, Dr Florence Samizi called for sufficient funds to be allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, stressing that inadequate funding undermines the sector’s potential as the economy’s mainstay and a driver of growth.
Anatropia Lwehikila Theonest (Special Seats-Chadema) urged the government to revert to the Malabo Declaration that calls for allocation of at least 10 per cent of national budgets to agriculture to boost its growth.
The Malabo Declaration, a commitment made by African Heads of State and Government in 2014, calls for allocating at least 10 per cent of national budgets to agriculture.
This declaration aims to accelerate agricultural growth and transformation, ultimately improving livelihoods and food security on the continent.
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