Japan to grant Tanzania Sh14 billion for procurement of rice
By Victor Karega
Japan will give Tanzania a grant of $10.3 million (about Sh14 billion) to help it procure rice to alleviate immediate food needs.
Documents for the grant were exchanged in Dar es Salaam yesterday between the Treasury permanent secretary, Mr Ramadhan Khijjah and the Japanese ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Hiroshi Nakagawa on behalf of their governments.
The rice to supplement food shortage in the country sparked by the 2008 drought will be procured from Japan.
"Erratic rainfall has been causing deficits of food production almost every year….implementation of this food aid project in Tanzania addresses the immediate food shortage in the country mainly caused by low rainfall during the past crop season," Mr Khijjah said.
An assessment conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives showed that 717,684 people in 47 districts were facing food shortages to the tune of 21,604 tonnes from March to May 2010.
To cover the shortage, 2,160 tonnes will be distributed freely while 19,444 tonnes will be sold at subsidised prices during that period.
Maize and sorghum stocks held by the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) declined to 60,694 tonnes by the end of March 2010 from 64,461 tonnes recorded at the end of the preceding month, according to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).
"The decline in stocks was on account of the sale of grains to the Government and private traders for distribution to districts experiencing food shortages," indicated the BoT Monthly Economic Review for April 2010.
The NFRA purchased 73,280 tonnes of grains from the domestic market during the first nine months of the current financial year.
The amount is about 46 per cent of the target of purchasing 160,000 tonnes during the entire 2009/2010 financial year.
Mr Khijjah said proceeds from the sale of rice will be used to finance community-based development projects that have the potential to contribute towards increasing agricultural production and productivity in the country.
According to Mr Nakagawa, food security and improvement of food production are among priority areas of the Japanese official development assistance to Tanzania.
This forms part of Japan's commitment made at the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) held in the Japanese city of Yokohama in 2008.
So far, Japan has given food aid worth $141.5 million (about Sh190 billion) to Tanzania.
Source: the citizen:
Ona facts hapo chini, halafu badala ya sisi kulima ili tuwe self sufficient in food tunamwita mwarabu anakuja analima kwetu chakula chote anapeleka kwao, sisi tunabaki tunatembeza bakuli na kuomba chakula kwa watu ambao hawana ardhi kabisa. Ukiuliza hatuna hela, mwekezaji aje. Ndege, rada na richmond hatuhutaji waekezaji ni hela zetu wenyewe huu ni ujinga kabisa sio umaskini.
Kuna picha ilitoka Daily News ( towards memory lane) mwaka 1966 gereza la kidete lilikuwa linalima mpunga mechanically na lilikuwa na Combine harvester hii leo viongozi tofauti, Ardhi ile ile, wafungwa ni wengi zaidi hivi sasa kuliko ilivyokuwa 1966 lakini cha ajabu tunashindwa kulima tunaipeleka ardhi TIC . CEO wa pale anatoka magazetini with a broad smile on the face eti anafanya kazi kwa kugawa ardhi yetu kwa watu wa nje.
What the hell is wrong with us? Shame on us. Tuondokane na ujinga?
1.FACTS ABAOUT JAPAN:
Official Name: Nihon or Nippon (Japan)- Land of the Rising Sun
Capital: Tokyo
Official Language: Japanese
Chief of State: Emperor
Head of Government: Prime Minister
Monetary Unit: Yen
Population: 126,398,000 in 1998
Area: 145,883 square miles (377,835 square kilometers)
2. FACTS ABOUT TANZANIA:
Official Name:
United Republic of Tanzania
Area:
945,000 sq. km
Time:
GMT +3
Population:
29 million
Population Density:
31/sq. km
Urban/Rural Split:
22% / 78%
Literacy rate:
68 per cent