AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government has appealed to local investors to establish more fertilizer companies to cope with the shortage of manure, which is a result of the global Covid 19 Pandemic.
Currently, almost 90 per cent of used fertilizer in Tanzania is imported.
Speaking while opening a Tanzania Fertilizer Regulatory Authority (TFRA) investors’ forum here on Monday, Arusha Regional Commissioner, Iddi Hassan Kimanta laid emphasis on the investors to open up such industries to make the shortage of fertilizer that the country is now grappling with.
“While the country isn’t self-sufficient in fertilizer supply, the price of such commodity is shooting up in the global market,” he said. The regional commissioner further warned that it wasn’t good for the country to rely on fertilizer imports for massive contribution and strength of Tanzanian agriculture.
The sector is still considered to be the backbone of Tanzania’s economy accounting for more than one-quarter of gross domestic product (GDP), providing 85 per cent of exports and employs about 80 per cent of the workforce.
Earlier on, TFRA Board Chairperson, Professor Anthony Mshandete informed the regional commissioner that Tanzania managed to produce 33,873 tonnes of fertilizer despite the actual demand of manure, which stood at 586,604 tonnes last year.
Prof Mshandete decried the challenges that local investors face in procuring raw materials for the manufacture of fertilizers in the country. “We’ve gathered here today to address such bottlenecks that hinder the growth of fertilizer industry in Tanzania,” he added.
TFRA Executive Director, Dr Stephan Ngailo on his part, urged local investors to seize opportunities which are readily available in the fertilizer value chain.
Dr Ngailo singled out the 718, 000 tonne demand for 2020/21 as massive opportunity for the investors.
According to the TFRA boss, Tanzania is now home to 11 fertilizer manufacturing industries, while two factories manufacturing fertilizer supplements have also been built.
The role of fertilizers in food production is usually underestimated. Fertilizers are food for plants.
They replace the nutrients that crops remove from the soil. Without the addition of fertilizers, crop yields and agricultural productivity can be significantly reduced.
