AfricaPress-Tanzania: IN a bid to increase sunflower production in the country, Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO) has appealed to the crop small scale farmers here to form business clusters.
Dodoma Regional SIDO Manager, Mr Sempeho Manongi, told a recent training workshop for the farmers that business clusters are vital for entrepreneurship skills, production efficiency, collaboration and innovation.
“While a farmer operating alone may not get support from organisation(s), he/she stands to get support from business clusters,” said the Regional SIDO Manager.
Mr Manongi observed that SIDO has been engaging in such clusters’ development largely to facilitate industrial estates, adding that solely for specific sectors and provision of technical support, training opportunities and advisory services.
“SIDO has been providing technical support and training to clusters, which are naturally formed with limited intentions in the public sector,” he added.
Mr Manongi said cluster development has in recent years been inactive in the country, hence, forcing SIDO to continue supporting the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) in clusters system.
“We’ve continued to support people in clusters in terms of providing them with processing skills and training in packaging and facilitation of certification of Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS),” he said.
The Manager noted that the main goal of SIDO has been to contribute and transform the country into a diversified and semi industrialized economy by promoting and developing industrial clusters, which are inclusive, vibrant and evolving.
“SIDO has a mandate to support SME development in the country by using its resources through infrastructure, expertise, experience and mechanism,” he added.
Last week, SIDO unveiled a 13-acre of land at Kizota area in Dodoma Municipality, where it would put up an infrastructure for small and medium industry to facilitate industrialisation revolution in the country’s designated capital city.
