Fresh moves for linking country farmers to markets on cards
Latest study has revealed that small holder farmers in Tanzania are failing to commercialize their undertakings mainly because of lack of proper marketing information.
The study was conducted in Morogoro Shinyanga, Singida and Dodoma regions where almost 90 percent of farmers acknowledged their lack of as much as necessary information on farming products and available markets.
The results of the study were discussed at a meeting held Monday in Dar es Salaam seeking to thrash out means and ways possible for improving small holder farmers.
Richard Isiaho, the Executive Director from Fit Resources firm which performed the survey said interviewed farmers could not exactly say whether farming falls into the category of businesses or not.
The survey was commissioned to the firm by the Dodoma based Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC).
As a result, most farmers see no reason for increased productivity and large scale operations, and these practices are holding them back.
Worst of all, he said, many farmers in the surveyed areas conceded that they are lacking access to markets simply because they are not aware about their existence and their behaviours.
`They either sell their produce to one another or else top middlemen at lower prices who later on transport them to urban areas where lucrative prices are obtained,` he noted.
According to him, the only solution, which would help those farmers to develop, was through promotion of specialized commodity marketing programs on various media outlets.
The contents of such programs could be informative on aspects like availability of markets and inputs.
The study covered more than 1,800 people, including farmers, government officials and non-governmental organizations and lasted for nine months starting May last year.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of RLDC, Dr. Ralph Engelman, said that media has always been a powerful tool when fully deployed for purposes of educating farmers on matters related to their development.
Most relevant information to Tanzania`s farmers would be the one that would uplift them from subsistence to commercial.
He revealed that his organization was ready to facilitate the establishment of such radio programs but was still sorting out some issues with stakeholders on how to go about it, he said.
RLDC is an initiative of the governments of Tanzania and Switzerland to improve livelihoods in the rural areas and it started its operations last year.
Participants said those ideas came at the right time and were ready to support the initiative.
G. Kumbi from the Sokoine University of Agriculture said his institution is a bank of various farming information and was ready to share them with other stakeholders.
`We are ready to support the RLDC initiative through provision of any information relating to agriculture to the farmers, which we hope could support them` he noted.
Another stakeholder identified as Hawa Kihwele, from Small Farmers Network (Mviwata) in Mbeya said government bureaucracy was partly responsible for denying farmers access to relevant information.
Source: IPP Media.com
Latest study has revealed that small holder farmers in Tanzania are failing to commercialize their undertakings mainly because of lack of proper marketing information.
The study was conducted in Morogoro Shinyanga, Singida and Dodoma regions where almost 90 percent of farmers acknowledged their lack of as much as necessary information on farming products and available markets.
The results of the study were discussed at a meeting held Monday in Dar es Salaam seeking to thrash out means and ways possible for improving small holder farmers.
Richard Isiaho, the Executive Director from Fit Resources firm which performed the survey said interviewed farmers could not exactly say whether farming falls into the category of businesses or not.
The survey was commissioned to the firm by the Dodoma based Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC).
As a result, most farmers see no reason for increased productivity and large scale operations, and these practices are holding them back.
Worst of all, he said, many farmers in the surveyed areas conceded that they are lacking access to markets simply because they are not aware about their existence and their behaviours.
`They either sell their produce to one another or else top middlemen at lower prices who later on transport them to urban areas where lucrative prices are obtained,` he noted.
According to him, the only solution, which would help those farmers to develop, was through promotion of specialized commodity marketing programs on various media outlets.
The contents of such programs could be informative on aspects like availability of markets and inputs.
The study covered more than 1,800 people, including farmers, government officials and non-governmental organizations and lasted for nine months starting May last year.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of RLDC, Dr. Ralph Engelman, said that media has always been a powerful tool when fully deployed for purposes of educating farmers on matters related to their development.
Most relevant information to Tanzania`s farmers would be the one that would uplift them from subsistence to commercial.
He revealed that his organization was ready to facilitate the establishment of such radio programs but was still sorting out some issues with stakeholders on how to go about it, he said.
RLDC is an initiative of the governments of Tanzania and Switzerland to improve livelihoods in the rural areas and it started its operations last year.
Participants said those ideas came at the right time and were ready to support the initiative.
G. Kumbi from the Sokoine University of Agriculture said his institution is a bank of various farming information and was ready to share them with other stakeholders.
`We are ready to support the RLDC initiative through provision of any information relating to agriculture to the farmers, which we hope could support them` he noted.
Another stakeholder identified as Hawa Kihwele, from Small Farmers Network (Mviwata) in Mbeya said government bureaucracy was partly responsible for denying farmers access to relevant information.
Source: IPP Media.com
posted by Richard William Mushi @ 9:13 AM
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