Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday pitched her country’s potential to be food secure and serve the region, by targeting unused land for agriculture.
Addressing delegates at an Africa Agriculture Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa in the United States, Samia said the immediate focus was to raise agricultural allocations in Tanzania’s annual budgets to support farmers in food and cash crop production initiatives.
That, she argued, will boost both production for local consumption and export markets within the Eastern and Southern Africa zone.
“We are not there yet, but I assure you, we are on track,” she said, comparing her own experiences in visiting Tanzania’s stronghold farming regions with lessons drawn from the Feed Africa Dakar 2 Summit held in January last year, to mobilise food production in Africa.
Tanzania government, she said, has increased its agriculture development budget from Tsh940 billion ($ 345 million) allocated in 2023 budget to Tsh1.2 trillion ($ 441 million) this year, an equivalent of 23.7 percent.
President Samia was one of four African heads of state who attended the annual Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue organised by the World Food Prize Foundation and bringing together political leaders, policymakers, and experts in agriculture and nutrition resource management.
The leaders of Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Nigeria were also present.
This year’s dialogue was held under the theme ‘Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy’ and addressed global food security challenges, particularly those exacerbated by climate change.
The 2023 Feed Africa Dakar 2 Summit highlighted acute food insecurity across the continent, where about 830 million people are at starvation levels mainly caused by poverty. It encouraged African governments to address the problem collectively.
President Samia told the US dialogue that after the Dakar Summit she established a Presidential Advisory Agricultural Council, to preside over implementation of the summit recommendations.
Delegates also attended the 2024 World Food Prize award ceremony recognizing significant contributions to the agricultural sector in memory of the late Dr Norman E. Borlaug, a global advocate for food security.
On Thursday, Samia also held talks in Des Moines with the deputy administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Isobel Coleman, about policy reforms in Africa based on increased US government funding to boost trade and investments.
The US is currently pumping more than $400 million each year to promote sustainable agriculture aiming to alleviate poverty levels through agricultural production.
A State House press release said President Samia was expected to hold roundtable discussions with more US government officials and American business and investment executives.
The discussions will target Tanzania’s agriculture development and investment opportunities available for American companies, aiming to raise value chains in Tanzania’s agricultural production.
