Jamani tumefikia hapa? Huu mkataba ulisainiwa lini? Wapi na nani alihusika? Tanzania itanufaika vipi? Hayo ni baadhi ya maswali niliyojiuliza baada ya kuiona taarifa hii ambayo tayari imegonga international headlines.
S Korea agrees Tanzania land deal
South Korea says it has agreed to develop farmland in Tanzania - the latest in a series of such deals between rich and poor nations.
Korean officials say 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) will be developed - half for local farmers, half to produce processed goods for South Korea.
Seoul also signed a deal last year to lease a vast area of Madagascar.
Rich countries have increasingly sought farmland in poorer nations to help shore up food supplies.
Countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Kuwait are short of arable land and have been seeking agricultural investments in Africa.
But South Korea's deal in Madagascar - which would have seen it lease an area the size of Belgium from the island nation - has been thrown into uncertainty.
Madagascar's government was overthrown in a coup earlier this year and the new leaders said they would scrap the deal, which was cited as one reason for the unrest.
'Colonialists' gibe
The state-run Korea Rural Community Corporation says a memorandum of understanding will be signed next month.
The corporation says it will produce processed foods like cooking oil, wine and starch on the land.
Lee Ki-Churl, a corporation official, said he expected Tanzanians to benefit from the deal.
"Some African countries export fruit and import fruit juice, or export olives and import olive oil, simply because their past colonialists did not teach them how to process food," he told the AFP news agency.
"We plan to set up an education centre for Tanzanian farmers in the food-processing zone in order to transfer agricultural know-how and irrigation expertise to them."
He said about 100bn won ($83m) would be spent to develop an initial 100 sq km of land over the next few years.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the corporation hoped to exploit deposits of iron ore, gold and copper in other parts of the Tanzania to help fund its project.
The deal comes weeks after Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda visited Seoul, when the two nations promised closer ties.
Source: BBC News
Korea yatangaza kununua ardhi kubwa Tanzania, serikali yakana
Na Mwandishi Wetu
SERIKALI imesema kuwa taarifa zilizotolewa na vyombo vya habari vya Ulaya kuwa imeuza ardhi ya ukubwa wa kilomita za mraba 1000 za kilimo kwa Korea ya Kusini kwa ajili ya matumizi ya kilimo si za kweli.
Taarifa zilizotolewa jana na vyombo hivyo zilieza kuwa Korea Kusini imekubaliana na serikali ya Tanzania kufikia hatua hiyo ikiwa ni sehemu ya makubaliano kati ya mataifa masikini na tajiri duniani.
Afisa wa Shirika linaloendeshwa na Serikali ya Korea linaloshughulikia maendeleo ya kilimo vijijini, Lee Ki-Churl, alinukuliwa na Shirika la Utangazaji la Uingereza (BBC), akisema kwamba mkataba huo utasainiwa mwezi ujao.
Kwa mujibu wa taarifa hizo, mkataba wa makubaliano kati ya mataifa hayo mawili ni matokeo ya ziara ya Waziri Mkuu, Mizengo Pinda aliyoifanya katika mataifa ya mashariki ya mbali.
Akizungumza jana, Waziri wa Kilimo na Chakula na Ushirika, Steven Wasira, aliliambia gazeti dada la hili la The Citizen kuwa hakuwa na taarifa na mkataba huo.
"Nilikuwa sehemu ya ujumbe wa Waziri Mkuu Korea Kusini na kilichotokea kule hakikuwa zaidi ya kuwakaribisha wawekezaji wa kigeni katika sekta zote ikiwamo ya kilimo."
Naye Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Kituo cha Uwekezaji nchini (TIC), Emmanuel ole Naiko alikanusha na akasema hakuna makubaliano yoyote yaliyofikiwa na serikali katika kilimo na Korea Kusini.
source: mwananchi 24/9/2009