“For the last nine years, AGRA has worked extensively in Tanzania. We have cultivated a broad alliance of public and private sector partners who are all working to unlock the potential of Tanzania’s smallholder farmers and help them move beyond subsistence to earn an income from their hard work,” said Dr Kalibata.
Dar es Salaam- The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has launched a new initiative, the Inclusive Green Growth of the Smallholder Agriculture (IGGSAS) Programme in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). The initiative, which is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has an overall goal of increasing incomes and food security of at least 30,000 farming households in the Mbeya region of Tanzania by 2020.
This programme will focus on strengthening at least 6 crop value chains to operate more efficiently while increasing access to inputs and knowledge of agronomic practices among smallholder farmers. The programme also aims to improve access to markets and improve the policy environment and advocate for climate-smart agriculture.
In July 2015, The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs awarded a grant of NOK 9,000,000 (US$ 1.2M) to AGRA. This was to fund a one-year inception phase of the IGGSAS Programme in the SAGCOT with YARA International as a key partner. During this period, AGRA has put in place the systems and structures (human capital and resources) and piloted a public-private partnership (PPP) model as anticipated in the grant. AGRA has also conducted the necessary environmental and ecological assessments, and developed a results tracking and impact measurement system. Following this success, the event today marked the launch of a second four year implementation and up scaling phase starting July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2020.
Speaking during the launch, which also marked the start of AGRA’s new 5-year Tanzania business plan, AGRA’s president Dr Anges Kalibata pointed out that this partnership was a great opportunity for AGRA scale up it’s work in Tanzania, a country that has tremendous potential as a bread basket. “For the last nine years, AGRA has worked extensively in Tanzania. We have cultivated a broad alliance of public and private sector partners who are all working to unlock the potential of Tanzania’s smallholder farmers and help them move beyond subsistence to earn an income from their hard work,” said Dr Kalibata.
Over the past nine years, AGRA has given 95 grants from different donors worth $49M cumulatively in Tanzania.
“The Norwegian Government is pleased to support this innovative public-private-partnership. Broad and inclusive growth in Tanzania must include the agricultural sector, and AGRA’s pro-poor and climate smart approach and focus on linking small scale farmer to off-takers and markets is key for inclusive and sustainable development,” said Ms. Tone Skogen, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway.
In his statement delivered by Dr Frolence Turuka – Permanent Secretary Agriculture, Hon Mwigulu Nchemba – Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries said, “AGRA has made Tanzania a priority country for the last 9 years. As a
country we are grateful for that. AGRA has supported improved crop
varieties, seed companies among many other projects. We are proud of
AGRA’s achievements in supporting agriculture. We thank the government
of Norway for supporting the new project. We will play our part as
the government to make it a success.”
Present during the Launch also was, Ms. Tone Skogen, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway,representatives from the Mbeya Regional leadership and administration, including Regional Commissioner Hon Abbas Kandoro representatives of AGRA’s key strategic partners: YARA, Development Partners Working Group on Agriculture, SAGCOT Center, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
