Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary, Hon. Andrew Massawe applauded IITA’s achievements in attaining agricultural milestones. He noted partnership for impact with national agricultural stakeholders, the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) to improve breeding, seed propagation innovations, and multiplication, and the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) to build capacity in seed certification.
This was revealed in a three-day official visit by the IITA Eastern Africa Regional Hub management to the Ministry of Agriculture and TARI from 15 to 17 May. The activity was organized and supported by the Building Economically Sustainable Seed Systems for Cassava, Phase II (BASICS-II), The International Fund of Agricultural Development’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation (IFAD-SSTC), and African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) projects. The visit’s objective was to update the new Permanent Secretary, Hon. Massawe on recent engagements between IITA and the Ministry and potential areas of partnership. The IITA Eastern Africa Regional Hub Director Leena Tripathi appreciated the Ministry of Agriculture for their support and shared IITA’s operation experiences in Tanzania related to administration challenges, including robust enabling environments for scientific work and engagements.
“I once visited TARI Kibaha and Mikocheni centers; I saw the IITA posters and was curious to know more about you. When I arrived at Mikocheni center, I was informed that many of their laboratories were made possible through support from IITA,” Hon. Massawe said.
During the meeting, Tripathi noted that IITA’s work and efforts usually align with government development strategy as outlined in the Agriculture Sector Development Plan II (ASDP II). “Our research activities for partnerships aim to increase food security and safety, reduce rural poverty and undernutrition, and promote sustainable natural resource management,” she said.
However, Hon. Massawe highlighted areas of emphasis to achieve a 10% annual growth rate for agriculture, which supports 65% of Tanzanians.
“The areas of emphasis are seed systems with a focus on breeding new varieties and multiplications, research, youth support to create a better tomorrow (youth engagement in agribusinesses), structural developments for markets and mechanization, and engagement of the Public-Private Partnership model,” he noted.
The next day, the IITA team met with TARI Director General Geoffrey Mkamilo at the TARI headquarters in Makutopola, Dodoma, to update him on transitioning to One CGIAR and discuss how to strengthen the partnership and improve the visibility of IITA in Tanzania. Mkamilo advised an advocacy strategy to increase the visibility of IITA activities in the Government’s high-level offices through frequent meetings and visits. Tripathi mentioned that TARI should acknowledge IITA’s contributions to the varieties development and other jointly developed technologies while discussing with the government officials. It was also agreed that we should co-develop proposals and co-implement projects or programs.
On the last day, the IITA team attended the annual parliamentarian budget session for 2022/23, whereby the Ministry of Agriculture presented its annual budget. During the session, organized for stakeholders on the invitation of The Ministry of Agriculture, the Speaker of Tanzania’s national assembly, Hon. Tulia Ackson, thanked several organizations and international institutes, including IITA and other CGIAR centers, for their immense contribution to the nation’s agricultural development sector.
IITA has an excellent partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture. The Institute has supported different activities, including editing and printing of Tanzania’s Cassava Development Strategy 2020-2030 and other climate-smart agriculture books, as well as collaboration to enhance extension services through capacity building of government agricultural staff.
Contributed by Gloriana Ndibalema
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