Dodoma
In a move to address the challenges faced by smallholder tea farmers, including delayed payments for their crops, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon. David Silinde, announced the government’s plan to construct five tea processing factories. These factories aim to alleviate the logistical and financial burdens on farmers, ensuring more timely payments and reducing transportation costs from farms to processing facilities.
This announcement came during Hon. Silinde’s expression of gratitude to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, Trade, Agriculture, and Livestock for inspecting the implementation of the Kipawa Warehouse Rehabilitation Project in Dar es Salaam. The project, undertaken by the Tanzania Smallholder Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA), aims to provide better storage solutions for tea producers.
According to Hon. Silinde, the strategic placement of these factories within tea farming regions will not only cut down transportation expenses for farmers but also spare them the inconvenience of delayed payments for their tea sales.
The Standing Committee on Industry, Trade, Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries praised the Ministry of Agriculture for its adherence to quality standards in the project’s execution. Committee Chairman, Hon. Deo Mwanyika, expressed satisfaction with the project’s progress and commended the Ministry for initiating a domestic tea auction, a move that shifts the auction from neighboring countries back to Tanzania.
TSHTDA’s Director-General, Mr. Theophord Ndunguru, highlighted that the project, initially started as an economic venture for the agency, will now serve the domestic tea auction following TSHTDA’s merger with the Tea Board. Mr. Ndunguru also disclosed the project’s costs at 743,854,516 TZS, with 716,978,974 TZS already disbursed.
Mr. Ndunguru extended his gratitude to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, for ensuring the timely allocation of funds for the project, marking a significant step towards enhancing the tea sector’s efficiency and supporting the livelihoods of smallholder tea farmers across the country.