The World Vegetable Centre (WorldVeg) and International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in a collaboration effort to promote crop research and nutrition in Tanzania.
The five-year MoU which was signed during the sidelines of the just concluded Africa Food Systems Forum will facilitate more research in arrears of crop production and fertiliser usage with focus on vegetable farmers on whether they need use fertiliser to boost production.
According to Marco Wopereis, Director General at WorldVeg, the MoU will strengthen areas of interest, capitalise on comparative advantages and synergies towards shared goals of agriculture transformation, food nutrition and security in the East African nation.
“Our main objective in this is to enhance food and nutrition security in line with sustainable development goals (SDGs) and help in alleviating poverty and malnutrition in both local and urban areas and further increase employment opportunities for both women and youth,” said Marco.
Soil health
He says that the MoU will also complement the ongoing research on soil health in regions of Ugunja, Pemba and other six islands in Tanzania as experts will be engaged in researching of fertiliser productivity in vegetable farming.
“This is just a progressive partnership with IFDC which we have worked with in implementation of other projects to help farmers find sustainable solutions to their various challenges,” Marco.
According to Henk van Duijin, the Chief Executive Officer at IFDC, the MoU will also incorporate sharing knowledge, technology and experience among the industry leaders to improve service delivery.
In this, farmers will be enabled to know when and how to apply fertilisers according to the soil condition in order to produce nutritious crops and vegetables.
Research on vegetable crops
In July 2020, WorldVeg and Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) signed MoU to improve research and development of vegetable crops, enhance nutrition, and increase food security in the country.
