Soya farmers in Tanzania should mobilise again after the crop market expansion, following reports over increased demand for the crop in both local and exports markets.
Eastern Africa Grain Council Programme Manager Ikunda Terry said demands for soya are increasing daily, calling the government to mobilise farmers to increase production.
However, it has been revealed that the current production does not meet demands as most of them use traditional methods.
“Tanzania has sufficient arable land capable of cultivating soya, demands are high great for local and foreign industries especially livestock and fishing feeds production industries,” said Mr Terry.
He gave the advice during the meeting with soya stakeholders to discuss the best way of increasing production. “Tanzania boasts of the large and arable land fit for soya farming but the production systems do not support productivity,” he said. The meeting which was organized by the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) brought all crop value chain stakeholders including both public and private sectors.
Ms Mwavita Ngonyaji, a soya farmer from Songea said it was her first time to get such a chance and she was optimistic that the challenges raised and discussed will get amicable solution.
“The meeting brought together buyers, farmers and the government, my take is the market demand for soya is high, so we should apply commercial farming” said Ms Ngonyani. An official from ministry of local government Mr Basil Msuha said the soya farming in Tanzania has experienced number of challenges of which can be solved by different means.
“We have been using our district and municipals authorities to deal with the challenges especially on market and inputs, we believe as we go along, we can be create conducive production environment for farmers “said Mr Msuha.
Source: allAfrica
