Africa Guardian

Dar es Salaam: Lord David Sainsbury, the British philanthropist
behind Tanzania Gatsby Trust is in the country to look at some of the
activities undertaken by his charitable trust.
Lord David Sainsbury of Turville, is the Founder of the Gatsby
Charitable Foundation and former Minister of Science in the UK
Government, has been funding a number of programmes in Tanzania
through the Tanzania Gatsby Trust since it was established 1992.
Sainsbury began his tour on Monday, April 30th and he will be
reviewing cooperative efforts between the charity and Government in
promoting various Tanzanian economic sectors including cotton
production, textile manufacturing and tea production.
TGT CEO Ms Olive Luena expressed her gratitude to Lord Sainsbury,
saying that his generosity has enabled the trust to undertake poverty
reduction and wealth creation initiatives that are important for
economic growth.
Lord David Sainsbury met His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete the
President of the United Republic of Tanzania in 2007, after which he
agreed to support the development of the cotton and textile sectors in
Tanzania.
Gatsby then contracted an expert team to complete a feasibility study
that identified the constraints along the whole cotton and textile
supply chain, and then worked with sector stakeholders to set up a
series of interventions addressing these constraints. Gatsby has
already committed approximately £8m to the CTDP over five years, and
The DFID has joined in with an extra funding of £7m to support the
sector.
There is a focus on establishing contract farming as the marketing
structure for Tanzania’s cotton sector. Contract farming has been
trialled for three years before it was introduced across the whole
sector in this season. It has been a major success this year, with
over a quarter of a million farmers receiving inputs on credit.
Farmers have been very enthusiastic, and the Tanzania Cotton
Association (TCA), representing the ginners, has expressed their
support.
The cotton programme also includes offering training to farmers, and
introducing weather insurance to protect farmers who take loans. The
programme is also helping TCB to introduce improved cotton seed, and
it is promoting conservation agriculture among farmers to improve
yields. The programme has also initiated a long-term research study to
evaluate its impact on farmers, which will help the government to
demonstrate the benefits that farmers have received from this
initiative. The philosophy of the programme is that ultimately local
institutions and stakeholders need to be able to guide and support the
development of the sector. Contract farming is a good strategy for the
sector at this stage of its development, but the sector needs to be
able to evolve. To this end, at the request of the Minister of
Agriculture, the programme has started a long-term process of
providing technical assistance to the Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB) to
building its institutional capacity.
Lord Sainsbury will be meeting His Excellency the President Dr Jakaya
Mrisho Kikwete, and the Minister of Agriculture Jumanne Maghembe,
later this week. In those meetings he will stress the importance of
upholding the rules of contract farming, so that farmers can continue
to benefit from this initiative. He will point out that it is only
fair that those ginners who benefit from the growth of the sector must
also invest in its success.