The government has invested 60bn/- on the agricultural sector through the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB), with the view to improve farmers’ welfare.
This was said in Dar es Salaam yesterday by President Jakaya Kikwete when opening TADB head office. The bank will, among other things, provide loans to farmers and assist them to get access to modern farming implements to bolster productivity.
“Statistics show agricultural productivity is very low in the country for different reasons, including the use of outdated implements such as the hand hoe,” he said.
He noted that 75 per cent of Tanzanians are farmers who contribute to 25 per cent of the national income, which can be increased in the presence of better implements since at the moment it is believed that 62 per cent of farmers do not use modern implements.
The president said that other factors holding back farmers is the use of traditional seeds with most of farmers across the country lacking enough money to buy insecticides to protect their crops.
He said in order to reach the 2025 target of being a middle income country, there is the need to invest in the agricultural sector and on farmers.
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“I call upon other stakeholders to invest in the agricultural sector, we need electricity in rural areas so as to increase irrigation and help farmers from depending on rains,” the president advised.
If TADB will be supported, he added, most of the problems that farmers face will be history, hinting that he intends to become a customer of the bank once he retires from active politics after the October general election.
Earlier, TADB Managing Director, Mr Thomas Samkyi, guaranteed farmers that the bank intends to revolutionise the agricultural sector by coming to the rescue of farmers.
“As a development bank we are dedicated to helping farmers and that is why we will have very low interest rates compared to other financial institutions,” he expounded.
He revealed that the bank has capital of more than 500bn/- out of which they have received 60bn/- from the government as start up fund as they wait for more to be released.
He observed that the bank would not have started if it wasn’t for the president’s intervention and promised to serve the purpose of its establishment while counselling farmers to form groups to get easy access to loans.
“It was the president’s dream to see this day before he hands over office and we will work day and night to ensure that we do not let him down,” he said.
He also said that through the bank they will be able to help in reducing unemployment in the country and encouraged women and youth to take advantage of the bank’s loan facility.
