TANZANIA – The Ministry of Agriculture has said that it foresees a sharp annual increase in soya seed production given Tanzania’s current use of irrigated farms to produce the crop.
According to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr Gerald Mweli, irrigation machinery has been installed in selected farms producing the seed and research on the crop is underway in research institutes.
While the number of farms or the budgetary increase to research centers remains undisclosed, the new technology and the irrigation approach promises Tanzania an increase in annual production of the seed and an increase in the number of growers.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Implements and Value Addition, Engineer Anna Mwangamilo, the PS said soya production has increased significantly spanning both local and foreign markets.
“We shall be producing the seed more than once a year and we shall increase the annual budget of research centers in order to get the best varieties of the seeds,” he said.
The meeting was jointly organized by the ministry and Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT).
SAGCOT’s Programme Manager Tanzania Sustainable Soybean Initiative (TSSI), Mr Abdallah Msambachi, said the idea behind the current production thrust is to produce competitive soya on the market and create jobs using the crop.
Soya is significantly grown in Ruvuma, Iringa, Mbeya, Rukwa and Morogoro Region. Other regions with the potential and characteristics of soybean production are Tanga, Mtwara, Lindi, Kagera Mara, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara.
The General Manager of Iringa Farmers’ Cooperative Union (IFCU), Mr Tumaini Lipola, who was also in attendance, said although the soya business climate is friendly, production remains low due to various challenges which need to be addressed including agriculture financing.
“On average, a farmer is supposed to harvest 1.5 tonnes of sipack variety in an acre, but our farmer is currently harvesting 500 kilograms,” he remarked.
This optimistic forecast is in line with Tanzania’s current crop exports rate which is at an all-time high having surged by 9.5% to USD 2.3 billion as of December 2023 from USD 2.1 billion in 2020/21, driven by increased exports of coffee, tobacco, cashew nuts, rice, sesame, legumes, and notably, avocados.
Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe highlighted the diverse export destinations: “Avocados were shipped to several countries including the Netherlands, France, UK, Spain, Belgium, Russia, Germany, Norway, South Africa, India, and the United Arab Emirates.”
Horticultural crops, encompassing flowers, fruits, spices, and vegetables, recorded a boost from accessing more foreign markets, with an increase from 7,304,723 tons to 7,723,115.66 tons.
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