President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaking during the handing over of 6,700 motorbikes to extension service officers in Dodoma on April 4, 2022. Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday outlined its agricultural transformation agenda, detailing its desire to see commercial banks’ lending rate to the sector – which is currently within single-digit levels – dropping further.
Apart from bringing down lending rates further, the government also plans to issue a price stability fund for fertilizer and establish a revolving Fund for agricultural inputs and agricultural development.
The government also plans to review the National Irrigation Commission structure and make some changes and establish a common use facility for packing, sorting and grading of horticultural products.
It also directed the treasury’s office to let off land that is at its hand idle and give it to investors for commercial farming.
For agriculture to attain a meaningful development, the government also requested development partners to channel their aid into agriculture infrastructure, instead of capacity building.
Speaking during the a handover of 6,700 motorcycles to extension service officers, President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged commercial banks to compete by providing a single digit interest rate on loans to the agriculture sector.
She said single digital interest rate is of paramount importance in making loans cheap and hence shaping the agriculture sector and up its contribution to the economy.
Reports have it that the agriculture sector employs over 65 percent of Tanzanians, contributes 27 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 60 percent of raw-materials and 25 percent of foreign currency. Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe gestures during the launch of the agenda 10|30 “CRDB Bank is already changing a single digit interest rate to nine percent. I am positive NMB Bank, which is currently charging 10 percent, will follow a suit. Will be more than happy if you go to eight percent,” said President Hassan.
She also directed the ministry of Agriculture to establish a Revolving Fund for agricultural inputs and agricultural development.
“At a time when prices for agricultural inputs shoot due to external shocks, the Revolving Fund will be coming in to cushion farmers,” she said, suggesting that the Fund will be bearing the price burden.
Contributors to the Fund will be among others, internal sources of revenue and development partners, the President explained.Again, President Hassan directed the ministry of Agriculture and President’s Office (Public Service Management) to review the Irrigation Commission structure for it to have offices in each district.Speaking earlier, Agriculture […]
