AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government is working to come up with a unique model for agricultural financing, a move which would control service providers in the country from posing high interest rates to farmers’ loans.
Deputy Minister for agriculture Hussein Bashe told the National Assembly on Wednesday here that the move is aimed to rescue farmers from falling into evil loans which later end up affecting their farming incomes.
Responding to a supplementary question from Nkasi North MP Aidah Kenani (Chadema), Bashe acknowledged that there were some dishonest lenders of farming inputs who have been reaping big from the business by posing high interest rates to farmers through loans.
In her basic question, the lawmaker claimed that the current system of lending tractors to farmers was not good and was causing losses to the farmers due to high interest rates posed to them.
She wanted the government to come up with a new system which would be more favourable to the farmers and enable them benefiting from the farming business instead of spending their incomes to service caustic loans.
Responding, Bashe said the government has started identifying all service providers who issue loans to farmers in the country so as to limit caustic loans which eventually affects farmers.
“We have seen this challenge and we are working on it to ensure that our farmers benefit from what they are doing instead of working to feed others with high profit,” he said.
To enable fair and timely supply of farming inputs, the government has established a bulk procurement system so as to enable farmers get the inputs on time and at a fair price, the deputy minister noted.
He also said the government said that it was working to implement more measures to enable the country to utilize fully crop market opportunities in various countries including China and Europe.
Bashe said that the government has signed the Phytosanitary Protocol with people of the United Republic of China, the bilateral business development which apart from green lighted local companies to trade with China; it also opened market access for various crops including soya beans from Tanzania.
The move will enable more farmers from Tanzania to sell their produce easily in the Asian market.
“Last month we have witnessed consignment of 140 tonnes of soybeans transported to China, this a good step and an encouraging measure for farmers in the country,” Bashe said while responding to a supplementary question from an MP, Humphrey Polepole.
In his question, Polepole sought to know the government’s plans to utilize market opportunities of soya beans available in China.
The deputy minister further said that in order to ensure that there is steady production of quality crops in the country, the government has directed the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) and the Agriculture Seed Agency (ASA) to increase production of quality seeds so as to stimulate production of quality crops which will meet national and international standards.
