AGRA

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania: July 13, 2021 – Former Ethiopia Prime Minister and Board Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, has said that with proper investment, Tanzania has the potential to feed the whole of Africa.

According to H.E. Dessalegn, Tanzania’s favorable climatic conditions, good soils, a youthful population, and a propensity for mechanization can be harnessed to meet the continent’s food needs.

“Tanzania is one of the few countries in Africa that have the potential to feed the whole continent; very few countries can change their agricultural landscape but Tanzania can,” he said during an engagement with AGRA staff in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Monday morning. 

Also in the meeting was retired Tanzania President and AGRA Board Member, H.E. Dr. Jakaya Kikwete, who rooted for increased research, mechanisation, irrigation and farmer finance in transforming Tanzania’s agricultural prospects.

“Smallholder farmers are greatly affected by climate change, thus the need for experts and researchers to help them cope with the challenge and increase their productivity,” H.E. Dr. Kikwete said.

“Irrigation agriculture, too, is a way forward and should be made accessible for smallholder farmers,” he added, citing his 31-acre maize farming venture that failed after rains stopped, inspiring him to invest in irrigation. 

From here, H.E. Dr. Kikwete takes over the food systems tour as H.E. Dessalegn takes a break. The former Tanzania President is set to lead a delegation to Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique, where he will invite the heads of state and government to the AGRF Summit 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya from September 7 – 10. Meanwhile, H.E. Dessalegn will later this week meet with Tanzania’s president, H.E. Samia Suluhu, to deliver her official invite to the summit.

During the meeting, H.E. Dessalegn and H.E. President Suluhu are also expected to engage in dialogue on her government’s food systems priorities. This is especially important as Africa prepares for the September UN Food Systems Summit, where the world will take stock of the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably the commitment to end hunger and poverty by 2030. 

H.E. Dessalegn has been in Tanzania since Friday 9 July as part of a cross-Africa tour to witness the impact of AGRA’s work, while mobilizing political goodwill and private sector participation in the transformation of the continent’s food systems.

During his site visits in the Bagamoyo District and downtown Dar es Salaam today, Tuesday, July 13, he explored private sector investments in milling and chick breeding, projects that contribute differently to Tanzania’s food systems development objectives.

Accompanied by H.E. Dr. Kikwete, the AGRA Board Chair first toured Joydons Limited, a maize flour processing business in the Coastal region, established by two sisters in 2012. From an initial capital of USD 2,156, Joydons has grown to have a USD 1.3mn operating capital base, and 248 workers.

“We currently sell our maize flour in four administrative regions on Mainland Tanzania – and plan to capture other markets soon enough, including export markets,” said the company’s co-founder and managing director, Joyce Kimaro.

From Joydons, the two principals and their delegation, visited AKM Glitters Company Limited in Dar es Salaam, which produces and sells improved chicken, and poultry feed. The company has in 14 years grown from a backyard poultry farm with 250 chicken to a hatchery plant yielding 320,000 day-old chicks per month.

Through its vast network, of primarily women-owned businesses, AKM Glitters has in the past four years alone distributed 7.2mn day old chicks of the dual purpose Kuroiler breed to at least 1.25mn smallholder farming households. The company also recently upgraded its milling plant to generate 120 tons of poultry feed everyday.

“By working with mostly female distributors in rural areas, we are able to support them in growing their own businesses as well as reach rural farmers and give them access to a high-quality breed of chicken and feed,” said Elizabeth Swai, the company’s founder and CEO.

About AGRA

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Together with our partners, we catalyze and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation to increase incomes and improve food security for 30 million farming households in 11 African countries by 2021.

More information: https://agra.org/; Rebecca Weaver, rweaver@agra.org

About AGRF

The AGRF is the premier forum for African agriculture, bringing together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African agriculture forward. The Forum is designed to energize political will and advance the policies, programs and investments required to achieve an inclusive and sustainable agricultural transformation across the continent.

More information: https://agrf.org; Catherine Ndung’u cndungu@agra.org