Hand-in-Hand Initiative Empowers Tanzania's Agricultural Sector
The Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have collaborated on FAO’s Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Initiative which aims at empowering Tanzania’s agriculture sector.
Stakeholders met today in Dar es Salaam to discuss and agree on potential agricultural investment opportunities to be showcased in the upcoming Investment Forum in Rome, Italy from 17-20 October 2023.
“The agricultural sector in Tanzania has continued to be instrumental in boosting the national economy and bringing development to our citizens,” said Mr. Gerald Mweli, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture.
“We are keen to support stakeholders’ consultation and foster policy dialogues through public private partnerships to support the acceleration of agrifood systems in the country,” he said.
The upcoming Investment Forum in Italy will serve as a platform for Tanzania to present its investment opportunities to investors, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and donors, with the central focus on the investment potential in national agriculture and food value chains, as outlined in the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.
The HIH initiative is not only government-owned but also government-led, with a specific emphasis on three agricultural value chains: Sunflower, Wheat, and Soybean. These priorities align with the objectives outlined in the Dakar 2 Compact and Building a Better Tomorrow Youth Initiative for Agribusiness (BBT-YIA).
“The initiative is designed to support nationally led programs that address key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including eliminating poverty (SDG1), ending hunger and malnutrition (SDG2), and reducing inequalities (SDG10),” said Dr. Nyabenyi Tipo, FAO Representative in Tanzania.
“Together we can achieve a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous agricultural sector, one that holds the promise of prosperity for all,” she said.
Since the launch of the Initiative in 2019, an economic and financial analysis of these value chains was done with technical support from FAO. The analysis recommends increased investments in seed multiplication, storage, and processing facilities for these priority value chains.
Furthermore, a dedicated geospatial platform for the country has been developed to allow the private sector, development partners, and government counterparts to make informed investment decisions. This complements ongoing efforts to strengthen the farmers' registration system and improve access to digital agricultural information and related services provided by the Government.