Implementation of District Agricultural Development Plans huge impetus to accelerating agricultural transformation in Tanzania
Tanzania has made a new stride in the drive to accelerate agricultural transformation by formulating, developing and implementing District Agricultural Development Plans (DADPs).
According to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, proper implementation of DADPs will bring a lasting solution to many challenges that have been adversely affecting the agriculture sector, which primarily comprises crop growers, livestock keepers, pastoralists and fisherfolks in Tanzania. He noted that it would also catalyze greater industrialization through the forward and backward linkages between agriculture and industry.
The prime minister pointed out that the launch of the DADPs for 30 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) was the beginning of a new vision that would see preparations of the district level strategies and implementation in all the regions of Tanzania.
The prime minister thanked Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for facilitating the preparation of the 30 DADPs but asked the organization to consider supporting a similar effort to cover all 154 councils in Tanzania.
The premier noted that DADPs are the tools for implementing ASDPII in the LGAs because they consider local contexts, opportunities, and challenges within a particular district. ASDP II guiding principle is for the agricultural development resources to be devolved to the grassroots.
With financial support from AGRA, the President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) Ministry worked with 30 LGAs spread out in 12 Regions to prepare the 30 DADPs. The ministry and the local government authorities used a participatory method involving public, private, and other value chain actors in the LGAs in the preparation of these district agricultural development plans.
The local government authorities are implementing DADPs with support from the President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) Ministry and Agricultural Sector Line Ministries (ASLMs), including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, among others.
AGRA initiative, “Strengthening Coordination of ASDPII in the Local Government Authorities” better known by its acronym as the SCALGA project supported the development of DADPs, and the formation of agricultural stakeholder platforms to strengthen coordination of (ASDP II) implementation in the local government authorities.
AGRA Vice President, Policy and State Capability Dr Apollos Nwafor promised that AGRA would continue to support Tanzania to ensure profitable returns for smallholder farmers in the country as envisioned in ASDP II.
The Minister of State in the Office of the President – Regional Administration and Local Government (RALG), Innocent Bashungwa, directed local government authorities to ensure smooth DADPs implementation. “DADPs will help to increase productivity and incomes,” noted the minister.
Agriculture Deputy Minister Anthony Mavunde noted that Tanzania had taken steps to strengthen agriculture including plans to raise food self-sufficiency to 136%, increase horticulture production from 7 million to 14 million tons, and top up crop exports from $ 1.2 to $ 5 billion by 2025, among other milestones.
The Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Mashimba Ndaki said that DADPs take agriculture’s broader context, including fishing and livestock. “The implementation of DADPs will help livestock and fisheries farmers to increase their earnings dramatically,” he noted.
According to Vianey Rweyendela, AGRA Tanzania Country Manager, the implementation period for the thirty quality DADPs is 2021 to 2026 and set out agriculture priorities at the district levels to leverage the agricultural sector’s growth.
Rweyendela thanked the President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) Ministry and the Agricultural Sector Line Ministries (ASLMs), the Prime Minister Office, and all the 30 local government authorities for the commendable support to kilimo tija (solution-based agriculture). “The DADPs will catalyze the implementation of ASDPII and hence the inclusive agricultural transformation in the local government authorities,’ he said.
The 30 LGAs with the operational DADPs are: Muleba, Misenyi and Biharamulo district councils in Kagera Region. In Kigoma region, there is Kasulu, Kibondo and Kakonko. For Katavi regions, the operational DADPs are for Tanganyika, Mpimbwe and Nsimbo, while in Rukwa region, its for Kalambo, Nkasi, Sumbawanga DC. In Ruvuma region, there is Songea DC, Madaba and Mbinga DC while in Njombe region, it’s Wanging’mbe and Ludewa. In Iringa region the covered LGAs are Mufindi and Kilolo, while in Manyara region it is Babati, Hanang and Kiteto. In Arusha region, it is Meru, Karatu and Arusha DC while in Kilimanjaro region its Hai, Siha and Rombo and finally in Simiyu its Maswa and Tanga it is Kilindi.
Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Together with our partners, we catalyze and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation to increase incomes and improve food security in 11 countries.
More information: https://agra.org/|