Tanzania has opened grain storage facilities in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, and Juba in South Sudan to facilitate the sale of surplus food crops.
Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe made the announcement and said the ministry will not directly involve itself with the business of selling the exported grain but it will assume the role of an initiator.
“We have opened grain centres in Juba, South Sudan, and Lubumbashi in the DRC and already delivered 800 tonnes of grains to the two centres. This is all in efforts to enable Tanzanian farmers and traders get good markets for their products. We believe access to markets motivates farmers to increase production,” said Bashe.
SAGCOT
The country recently launched an ambitious food surplus creation scheme titled the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), which uses 350,000 hectares in the country’s fertile southern highlands region to grow maize, paddy, wheat, sorghum, millet, cassava, beans, sweet potatoes and bananas.
The country also plans to open another facility in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa. Maize and rice are the top cereals produced in Tanzania. Pigeon peas and dry beans lead the pulses production. Groundnuts and sunflowers are the highest produced oilseeds. Cereal crops here are mainly grown for domestic consumption purposes in Tanzania. With increasing cultivation, and through the adoption of hybrid varieties and GM technologies, the country is expected to increase its share in the global grain trade in the coming years.
