A majority of the population in Tanzania is engaged in agriculture; therefore, addressing the many challenges faced by the players in the sector is one of the most effective ways to support the country to achieve its development goals. In this regard, the Belgium Government through its Embassy in Tanzania has identified Agriculture and Food Security as one of its priority areas to invest in and contribute to in support of the country’s development efforts.
This was said by the Ambassador for the Kingdom of Belgium, His Excellency Mr Koenraad Adam while on a recent visit to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to explore possible areas of collaboration. He was accompanied by his Agriculture Attaché Mr Ronny Dynood.
“Agriculture is one of the main economic sectors in the country. So, if you do not work in the sector you will not be able to have any meaningful impact on poverty reduction. We have prioritized the agriculture and water sectors as our priority areas of intervention in the country,” Ambassador Koenraad said.
Ambassador Koenraad further noted that while the country’s population was growing leading to an increased dem and for food, l and available for agriculture was reducing and l and degradation was increasing as farming extended to drier areas. He said the Belgium Government through the Belgian Development Agency (BTC) was keen on investing in agriculture extension and developing value chains of important crops for smallholder farmers.
IITA Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga who was visiting from Ibadan, Nigeria, warmly welcomed the Belgian envoy and his attaché to IITA’s research facilities in Dar es Salaam. He said the Institute was looking forward to working with the Belgium Government to address the challenges of the smallholder farmers in the country which was in line with the IITA vision of fighting hunger and poverty in Africa.
Dr Victor Manyong, Director Eastern Africa, said IITA had a strong team working on the major pests and diseases affecting famers’ yield in the country. These include the two deadly cassava diseases, Cassava Brown Streak and Cassava Mosaic, Banana Xanthomonus wilt (BXW), and Soybean rust.
He said IITA had initiated a banana breeding program to tackle the deadly bacterial disease affecting banana in the Great Lakes region. In Tanzania, the disease was especially destroying banana in the Kagera region.
Dr Manyong said IITA also had a strong research team working with national partners on value addition to ensure farmers were able to make money from the increased production through proper processing and storage to avoid postharvest losses and to make the foods safe.
He added the Institute was also keen on attracting the youth to agriculture by training and supporting them in agribusiness development as part of efforts to reduce youth unemployment.
Ambassador Koenraad appreciated the range of research activities going on at IITA saying he was looking forward to strengthening collaboration with the Institute to support agriculture development in the country.
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For more information, please contact:
Catherine Njuguna, East and Central Africa Regional Communications Officer, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
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