President Jakaya Kikwete listens of Tanseed International Ltd Chief
Executive Officer,Isaka Mashauri after opening the East Africa Business
Agriculture in Dar es Salaam yesterday.Second left is Minister of
Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives,Christopher Chiza |
In Summary
He said transformation of the sector can bring forth
such opportunities as rapid development of science and technology,
growth of regional markets and growing global momentum to support
initiatives.
Dar es Salaam. The agriculture
catalytic fund would become operational this year and start financing
commercial agriculture in the southern corridor, the Southern
Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (Sagcot) has said.
Sagcot’s chief executive officer Geoffrey Kirenga told the Agribusiness East Africa Conference in the city yesterday that the fund manager will be picked soon.
The catalytic fund is being established to provide early stage “social venture capital” to address the up-front costs of developing and starting up commercially-viable agriculture businesses in the corridor.
Speaking at the event, President Jakaya Kikwete, who was the guest of honour, said Sagcot was geared to increase food production to surplus levels so that the country becomes a net exporter to other East African nations and beyond.
He said the goal is to make profitable use of 350,000 hectares of land by creating 420,000 new jobs and bringing an income of $1.2 billion annually. “Some $2.4 billion will be invested over a period of 20 years,” he said.
Mr Kikwete urged agriculture stakeholders to embrace innovation in agriculture as the answer for tackling challenges affecting it and taping the growing opportunities globally.
In his key note address, President Kikwete challenged stakeholders to forge partnerships with international counterparts so as to bring tangible benefits. “Embracing and anchoring innovation is the overarching matter in our endeavour to transform Africa’s agriculture. An endeavour which if well implemented will translate into increased production, more income to players, improved food and nutrition security, availability of raw materials for agro-based industries, and increased foreign exchange earnings for our country,” he said.
He said transformation of the sector can bring forth such opportunities as rapid development of science and technology, growth of regional markets and growing global momentum to support initiatives.
“Our task is to translate that goodwill into real gains; to make our farmers go far beyond subsistence farming. We should enable them gain new skills and access new technologies and support that will enable them to move to commercial production,” said President Kikwete.
He further said: “We all know very well that it is the only way they can improve their household income and offer their children a better future”.
He also promised that the government will improve agriculture business environment by improving infrastructure, solving land policy, establishing microfinance institutions and empowering farmers.
Sagcot’s chief executive officer Geoffrey Kirenga told the Agribusiness East Africa Conference in the city yesterday that the fund manager will be picked soon.
The catalytic fund is being established to provide early stage “social venture capital” to address the up-front costs of developing and starting up commercially-viable agriculture businesses in the corridor.
Speaking at the event, President Jakaya Kikwete, who was the guest of honour, said Sagcot was geared to increase food production to surplus levels so that the country becomes a net exporter to other East African nations and beyond.
He said the goal is to make profitable use of 350,000 hectares of land by creating 420,000 new jobs and bringing an income of $1.2 billion annually. “Some $2.4 billion will be invested over a period of 20 years,” he said.
Mr Kikwete urged agriculture stakeholders to embrace innovation in agriculture as the answer for tackling challenges affecting it and taping the growing opportunities globally.
In his key note address, President Kikwete challenged stakeholders to forge partnerships with international counterparts so as to bring tangible benefits. “Embracing and anchoring innovation is the overarching matter in our endeavour to transform Africa’s agriculture. An endeavour which if well implemented will translate into increased production, more income to players, improved food and nutrition security, availability of raw materials for agro-based industries, and increased foreign exchange earnings for our country,” he said.
He said transformation of the sector can bring forth such opportunities as rapid development of science and technology, growth of regional markets and growing global momentum to support initiatives.
“Our task is to translate that goodwill into real gains; to make our farmers go far beyond subsistence farming. We should enable them gain new skills and access new technologies and support that will enable them to move to commercial production,” said President Kikwete.
He further said: “We all know very well that it is the only way they can improve their household income and offer their children a better future”.
He also promised that the government will improve agriculture business environment by improving infrastructure, solving land policy, establishing microfinance institutions and empowering farmers.
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