Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan was yesterday commended for her public pledge to sustain agricultural reforms and increase support to the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB).
In a random countrywide interview, people saw the president’s pledge to sustain reforms in the agriculture sector and increase lending to the sector as a timely reaffirmation of the importance of agriculture for the development of Tanzania.
Mr Felix Kaiza, a Kigamboni retired agriculturalist, said the president is a confident leader. He described the presidential pledge as “a promising promise of transformation to the sector.
To us, agriculture means people on the farms, those fishing, livestock keepers and even those who hunt honey… Now that the president is concerned with the people, then that is a welcoming step towards development of the sector and the people.”
Mr Kaiza welcomed efforts to strengthen cooperatives, saying what killed cooperatives in the past was that “we reached a stage when we saw our cooperatives equivalent to competitors from abroad; they were alien, not ours.
This new vision is good and promising good results,” he said. Mr Christian Ngatunga, a Songea soya and maize grower was happy with President Samia’s pledge to support TADB, saying farmers need their own bank to increase lending in agriculture.
He said, TADB has supported farmers in the past five years. “The government must continue support the bank further and the bank must take money to the farmers equally quickly,” he suggested.
Mr Joel Elinasha, a Kiteto barley grower said that he was happy and satisfied with the president’s position on promotion of agriculture, saying her speech was “full of vision because it highlights the need for comprehensive research on things like seeds, soil and fertilizers.”
Mr Benson Shija, a Bariadi farmer said he keeps livestock and also grows food and cash crops. “We were happy to hear the president saying nice words on our occupation, on agriculture.
The president wants to deal with challenges we are facing. This is good,” he said.
In her maiden speech in Parliament in Dodoma last Thursday, President Samia stated that the government will ensure that TADB is well enhanced and capacitated with the appropriate support, so that it can disburse more loans to farmers so as to transform the agricultural, livestock and fishing sector.
President Samia further explained that the sector contributes 100 per cent to national food self-sufficiency, 60 per cent to industrial raw materials, 27.7 per cent to the national income and 25 per cent of Tanzania’s foreign earning.
Contacted for comment yesterday, the TADB Managing Director, Mr Japhet Justine, said that the bank is grateful for the president’s pledge to increase funding to TADB, adding that the bank will endeavour to use efficiently its resources to support reforms in agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors.
Up-to December 2020, the bank has impacted 1,788,202 farmers and has disbursed 300bn/- worth of loans in 26 regions in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.
These loans have enabled the growth of valuechains across the agricultural, livestock and fisheries sector. “Thus, the president’s speech has really boosted our morale to do more.
As a bank, we promise to continue executing our mandate so as to reach the vision of agriculture, livestock and fisheries that was outlined by our president in her speech,” Justine said.
