AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Investment) Angellah Kairuki yesterday appealed to Iringa, Njombe and Mbeya Regional Commissioners to work together with investors in their respective regions to increase agricultural production and pull hard-working peasants from poverty.
Minister Kairuki made the plea here yesterday after touring ASAS Dairies Farm Limited, GBRI Solutions Tanzania Limited and Farm for the Future establishment and saying those investors had done a great job in improving dairy and crop value chains in the three regions.
The trio is grouped together as Ihemi cluster with the aim of transforming the regions’ agricultural productivity.
“It would also be a good thing for regional commissioners in the corridor to cooperate with the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) to address emerging problems.
There is ample proof to show that investments put in this area have yielded positive results and have increased national income,” the minister said calling on TIC to ensure projects in the cluster are registered with the centre.
She also commended the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) for mobilizing investors who, she said, had confidently invested in the corridor.
The minister assured investors that the government valued their contribution to the nation and that was the reason the government was working hard to improve the investment climate and also improve the environment for doing business.
ASAS Dairies Farm Limited Director Fuad Abri commended the government, saying it was supporting the private sector with concrete steps.
GBRI Solution Tanzania Limited Managing Director Hadija Jabiri said she secures external markets but fails to meet their demands for lack of capital and infrastructure.
SAGCOT, in partnership with investors, have formed clusters in order to provide opportunities to small farmers and help them engage in profitable agriculture.
SAGCOT Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Kirenga said the three regions have many investment areas and opportunities for crop and dairy farming.
SAGCOT, he said, was doing all in its power to contribute to the national effort to making Tanzania a middle-income industrial nation.
