Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has sounded an immediate need for small farmers to join cooperative societies in order to move to large scale farming and establish a good linkage with the current mushrooming of food and beverage industries.
Minister of State in the President’s Office (Investment), Prof Kitila Mkumbo stated on Tuesday that the country’s industrialization drive has created an increased demand for agricultural raw materials.
“As we put more emphasis on the establishment of industries, we should also ensure that there is a linkage between these industries and the farmers,” he noted, adding that the linkage was only possible if the farmers cultivate on a large scale under cooperative unions.
The minister made the remarks in Dar es Salaam when he visited Said Salim Bakhresa & Company Limited as part of his familiarization tour to investors upon his appointment to the portfolio.
The visit was coordinated by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) where investors have registered their projects.
During his visit, he was informed that one of the company’s industries, Buguruni Flour Mills, uses imported wheat for processing because of insufficient wheat production within the country.
It came to light that the industry’s annual demand for wheat was about 1.1 million tonnes.
“This is a huge opportunity for our wheat farmers if they could come together under cooperative societies and join their forces for commercial farming,” Prof Mkumbo stressed. Bakhresa Group Corporate Affairs Director, Hussein Sufian said the company was in talks with Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) to see how they can cooperate in empowering local wheat farmers. “We want to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will make an arrangement on how TADB can bring together farmers to cultivate and feed our industries with raw materials,” Mr Sufian explained.
As a big local investor which has created over 45000 jobs, the company expressed satisfaction over cooperation from regulatory authorities in addressing challenges facing investors.
Before visiting the Said Salim Bakhresa Company, Prof Mkumbo earlier in the morning arrived at Knauf Gypsum Tanzania Ltd located in Mkuranga district, Coast region.
To produce gypsum boards, the industry requires limestone plasters and metal profiles, and is expecting to invest over 110bn/- by the start of its production next year which will create over 160 employments. According to the Managing Director of Knauf Gypsum Tanzania Ltd, Ms Ilse Boshoff, the industry will be bringing in 5bn/- (2.1m US dollar) annually to Tanzania from exporting its products.
“We will be able to serve Tanzania and neighbouring countries, and thus contribute to Tanzania’s economy and future of the country,” Ms Boshoff assured.
On his part, Prof Mkumbo said Tanzania needed high quality industries that will add value to the country and create decent employment that protects the dignity
