WHEREAS the Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC), under its Chairman, H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania held a two day meeting on 2nd and 3rd June 2009 at Kunduchi Beach Hotel, Dar es Salaam, to discuss the policies and strategies for the transformation of Tanzania’s agriculture under the theme “KILIMO KWANZA ” and its implementation;AND WHEREAS eighty per cent of Tanzanians depend on agriculture for their livelihood;
RECOGNIZING that the greatest challenge facing Tanzania is to combat poverty and that this will be possible mainly through enhanced agricultural productivity;
CONSIDERING Tanzania’s endowment of agricultural land, livestock and marine resources of which a large proportion is currently underutilized;
REALIZING that Tanzania has the second largest volume of inland fresh water resources in Africa that can be utilized for irrigation;
CONSCIOUS of the fact that so far considerable efforts have been made towards the transformation of agriculture without much success;
RECOGNIZING that the greatest challenge facing Tanzania is to combat poverty and that this will be possible mainly through enhanced agricultural productivity;
CONSIDERING Tanzania’s endowment of agricultural land, livestock and marine resources of which a large proportion is currently underutilized;
REALIZING that Tanzania has the second largest volume of inland fresh water resources in Africa that can be utilized for irrigation;
CONSCIOUS of the fact that so far considerable efforts have been made towards the transformation of agriculture without much success;
Academicians are divided on whether or not, Tanzania's new initiative dubbed as 'Kilimo Kwanza' (Agriculture First) is the right path towards a green revolution.
Those that spoke to The Citizen expressed mixed reactions as other questioned the uniqueness of the new initiative to all the failed past initiatives.
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In his independent views, the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) lecturer, Dr Damian Gabagambi feels the new initiative has nothing new than the failed initiatives of Kilimo ni Uti wa Mgongo wa Uchumi' (Agriculture is the backbone of the economy), Kilimo ni uhai (Agriculture is life) and Kilimo cha kufa na kupona (Life or death agriculture).
Citing examples of Mexico, India and Malawi, Dr Gabagambi said developing agriculture requires not only well-crafted documents but also committed people to bringing about real change.
But Prof Andrew Temu also from SUA feels Kilimo Kwanza is designed uniquely.
"Kilimo Kwanza is the only initiative designed without force from outside... it is initiated by Tanzanians for Tanzanians... it does not seek to solicit funding from donors as is the case with most of the past initiatives," he told The Citizen yesterday.
Since most of the past initiatives had influence of donors, transferring the initiatives from donors to Tanzanians used to create problems at the implementation level, he said.
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Kilimo Kwanza has tried to provide a linkage between small-scale farmers and their medium and large-scale counterparts, something that was lacking in the past initiatives, urges Prof Temu.
"Instead of mobilising FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into agriculture, we have, through Kilimo Kwanza, decided to sensitise local investors to engage themselves in large-scale commercial farming," he said.
Earlier, Dr Adolph Mkenda who lectures at the University of Dar es Salaam had told The Citizen that he finds no problem with the initiative but rather with whether or not it (the initiative) will help to hasten implementation of the country's existing agriculture development strategies.
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"An initiative is, in itself, nothing than just a document meant to sensitise people to take on a certain activity... Kilimo Kwanza will therefore be meaningful if its intention is to add a new vigour to the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS)," he told The Citizen yesterday.
Tanzania approved the ASDS in 2001, with an objective of achieving a sustainable agricultural sector growth rate of five per cent per annum through transformation from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
According to Dr Mkenda, many of the issues highlighted in the strategy have been replicated in the Kilimo Kwanza document. "While I have nothing against Kilimo Kwanza, I think the best way to develop our agricultural sector is to sit down and take a stock of what we have achieved since the ASDS became operational," he intoned.
Those that spoke to The Citizen expressed mixed reactions as other questioned the uniqueness of the new initiative to all the failed past initiatives.
GA_googleFillSlot( "AllAfrica_Story_InsetA" );
In his independent views, the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) lecturer, Dr Damian Gabagambi feels the new initiative has nothing new than the failed initiatives of Kilimo ni Uti wa Mgongo wa Uchumi' (Agriculture is the backbone of the economy), Kilimo ni uhai (Agriculture is life) and Kilimo cha kufa na kupona (Life or death agriculture).
Citing examples of Mexico, India and Malawi, Dr Gabagambi said developing agriculture requires not only well-crafted documents but also committed people to bringing about real change.
But Prof Andrew Temu also from SUA feels Kilimo Kwanza is designed uniquely.
"Kilimo Kwanza is the only initiative designed without force from outside... it is initiated by Tanzanians for Tanzanians... it does not seek to solicit funding from donors as is the case with most of the past initiatives," he told The Citizen yesterday.
Since most of the past initiatives had influence of donors, transferring the initiatives from donors to Tanzanians used to create problems at the implementation level, he said.
GA_googleFillSlot( "AllAfrica_Story_InsetB" );
Kilimo Kwanza has tried to provide a linkage between small-scale farmers and their medium and large-scale counterparts, something that was lacking in the past initiatives, urges Prof Temu.
"Instead of mobilising FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) into agriculture, we have, through Kilimo Kwanza, decided to sensitise local investors to engage themselves in large-scale commercial farming," he said.
Earlier, Dr Adolph Mkenda who lectures at the University of Dar es Salaam had told The Citizen that he finds no problem with the initiative but rather with whether or not it (the initiative) will help to hasten implementation of the country's existing agriculture development strategies.
GA_googleFillSlot( "AllAfrica_Story_InsetC" );
"An initiative is, in itself, nothing than just a document meant to sensitise people to take on a certain activity... Kilimo Kwanza will therefore be meaningful if its intention is to add a new vigour to the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS)," he told The Citizen yesterday.
Tanzania approved the ASDS in 2001, with an objective of achieving a sustainable agricultural sector growth rate of five per cent per annum through transformation from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
According to Dr Mkenda, many of the issues highlighted in the strategy have been replicated in the Kilimo Kwanza document. "While I have nothing against Kilimo Kwanza, I think the best way to develop our agricultural sector is to sit down and take a stock of what we have achieved since the ASDS became operational," he intoned.
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