Minister lauds five-year program in Northern Tanzania for which IITA provided technical support

The Tanzania Minister of Agriculture, Hon Prof Adolph Mkenda, has praised the efforts and impacts of a five-year program in Northern Tanzania to develop the agriculture sector.

The program, funded by the Belgian Development Cooperation, brought together four partners-TRIAS, Iles de Paix (IDP), BOS+, and Rikolto. IITA, through the Africa RISING program, provided technical backstopping through one of the partners.

The Hon Minister was speaking at an event organized to mark the program's official ending and to celebrate its successes, where he was the chief guest. He complimented all the partners and actors in the program for supporting the government in addressing challenges in the agriculture sector.

The Hon Minister said the agriculture sector was still facing many challenges, hence the need for support from many partners. ''We need to identify the best way to work together and achieve long-lasting positive impact in the sector,'' the Hon Minister said.

Speaking at the event, the IDP Manager for Tanzania Ayesiga Buberwa praised IITA for bringing knowledge and technologies to support the sustainable intensification of agriculture for the rural farming communities in Northern Tanzania. She particularly singled out IITA's technical support to the program on postharvest management to reduce losses.

She said the program's intervention had contributed to positive progress towards achieving food security. According to her, from 2017 to 2021, food security increased from 38% to 78% in areas where IDP was working. These included diversification of household diets which rose from four to six types of meals. Moreover, the low usage of chemical pesticides for small-scale farming increased from 11% in 2017 to 76%. The program also led to the establishment of eight community seed banks within the eight villages of IDP.

The event took place at the TGT ground, Arusha, on 29 November and included presentations on key achievements, experiences, and lessons from the program on promoting sustainable agriculture and food systems, environment conservation, and social inclusion.

The project beneficiaries exhibited agricultural products such as quality seeds of local varieties, processed vegetables/fruits, cereal products, cakes, wine, and chemical-free pesticides.

IITA-Africa RISING ESA Project Chief Scientist, Prof. Bekunda Mateete; Frank Haule, IITA Driver; and Eveline Massam, Africa RISING ESA project Communication specialist represented IITA.

IDP and IITA through Africa RISING partnered in scaling appropriate practices and technologies in the Karatu region, Northern Tanzania, to improve vegetable production and utilization under the Kilimo Endelevu program. Other partners in the project implementation were Research, Community, Organizational Development Association (RECODA), ''Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania'' (MVIWATA) in, Arusha-Karatu District implement the Kilimo Endelevu Program.

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