(5 Minutes read)
In Tanzania thousands of local farmers proudly hold aloft their hard-earned international standards certifications, marking a momentous shift towards safer, sustainable, and rewarding farming.
Four groups of horticultural farmers with nearly 1,000 members in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions have secured GlobalG.A. P certificates, a significant breakthrough for the smallholder farmers exporting their crops to international markets. GlobalG.A. P is an internationally recognized set of farm standards dedicated to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) developed by European countries to ensure food safety, safe farming practices, workers, and animal welfare as well as facilitating export trade internationally.
The Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Nurdin Babu, handed over the GlobalG.A.P. certificates to Shamkeri growers and Umoja Arusha from the Arusha region and Mamba Miamba ginger growers cooperative and Umoja Kilimanjaro from Kilimanjaro region. He thanked the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) and the Food and Forestry Development Finland (FFD Finland) for facilitating the ideal accreditation, saying it would go a long way in unlocking a treasure trove of opportunities for the dedicated horticultural farmers, whose doors to lucrative global markets with discerning buyers eagerly waiting for their high-quality, responsibly farmed produce, now swing open.
With the certifications, French beans, peas, bitter gourd, chilis, ginger, avocado, and capsicum growers from Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions are no longer restrained by geographic boundaries, as they can now tap into premium prices and reliable demand across the World. The accredited local farmers are not alone in this journey. TAHA, a pioneer in Tanzania’s horticultural excellence, is beside them, etching a symbol of quality and excellence into their produce.
Through the Quality Standards for Enhanced Market Access for Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania (SEMA) project, TAHA equips the farmers with the preparedness to comply with and meet international market requirements on food safety and standards. Since 2012, TAHA has been collaborating with FFD in different interventions to support smallholder farmers and the Tanzania horticultural industry at large, according to Kiputa who doubles as SEMA coordinator. The Executive Associate to TAHA CEO, Simon Mlay said that their collaboration aimed at improving, increasing, and diversifying production; reducing post-harvest loss, and building market linkages in a holistic development of the local horticultural value chain.
The ongoing SEMA (2021 – 2024) project has continued enhancing TAHA’s capacity to deliver different services and support the horticulture industry in the country. It is understood, SEMA has strengthened TAHA’s Agronomists capacities in quality standards, including GLOBALG.A. P, which is widely applied in international horticultural trade. Through SEMA, TAHA has 15 Agronomists licensed on GLOBALG.A.P. standards, and they are recognised as registered trainers, formerly Farmer Assurers, and five auditors in its portfolio.
The goal is to build a critical mass of GLOBALG.A.P. standards experts and auditors, enhance export market compliance, raise food safety awareness, promote sustainable farming practices, and reduce certification costs for farmers, producers, off-takers, and exporters in East Africa. TAHA established the Tanzania National Technical Working Group (NTWG) tasked to adopt universal standards into a local scale or context by developing guidelines dubbed National Interpretation Guidelines (NIG) for the GLOBALG.A. P standards.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/tanzania-to-boost-the-horticulture-industry/
https://trendsnafrica.com/netherlands-to-support-tanzania-to-boost-potato-output/
It is worth noting that through this project, more than 3,500 farmers, 41 percent being female, and 35 percent youth, were trained in GLOBALG.A.P. standards. Of the trained farmers, about 1,200 received Global G.A.P. certificates for various export value chains to the EU and US markets in the project areas of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Njombe, and Unguja in Zanzibar.
Of the avocados produced under a certified environment by the project groups, about 10,800 metric tonnes worth USD 27 million, were exported in 2022 compared to 9,000 metric tonnes worth USD 22.5 million exported before the project interventions in one project region of Njombe, according to TAHA Research Information Centre (TARIC). Additionally, 663 metric tonnes of vegetables worth 6.36 US dollars were also exported in 2022, compared to 110 metric tonnes valued at USD 1.06 million US exported two years before the project intervention.
Tanzania’s Goods and Services exports up by 16 %
(Eastern Africa) (3 Minutes read)
Export of goods and services from Tanzania has improved, rising by 15.5 per cent to USD 13,544.3 mn in the year ending October from the level recorded in the preceding year.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for November, the performance was largely contributed by non-traditional exports, mainly manufactured goods, minerals-mainly gold, and horticultural products.
The export of non-traditional goods grew by 5.5 per cent with the value of gold exports rising to 2,987.7 million US dollars, up from 2,813.9 million US dollars in the year ending October on account of both volume and price effects. The export of traditional goods edged up to 910.3 million US dollars from 742.7 million US dollars, largely driven by exports of coffee and tobacco.
Every month, the export of traditional goods almost doubled to 120.9 million US dollars, higher than 64.5 million US dollars recorded in a similar month last year. Conversely, non-traditional exports fell to 532.2 million US dollars from 552 million US dollars.
The external shocks continued to exert pressure on the current account position, foreign reserves, and exchange rate. The deficit in the current account balance remained large, but narrowed to USD 3,265.5 million in the year ending October 2023, compared with USD 4,990.1 million in the preceding year.
The outturn was on account of increased seasonal earnings from tourism activities and traditional exports. The service receipts increased to 5,838.8 million US dollars in the year ending October from 4,555.1 million US dollars in the corresponding period last year, driven by travel (tourism) and transportation receipts.
The surge in travel receipts reflects the tourism sector rebound, as tourist arrivals rose to 1,750,557, a record high from 1,381,881 in the year 2021 to October 2022.Every month, the service receipts were 550 million US dollars compared with 460.4 million US dollars in October last year.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/new-foreign-exchange-regulations-in-tanzania-amidst-forex-crunch/
On foreign exchange reserves, the stock was USD 4,615 mn compared with USD 4,637.2 mn at the end of October last year. Despite the decrease, reserves were adequate to cover about 4.0 months of projected imports of goods and services.
Indian Companies Secure Contract for Cameroon-Chad Electrical Interconnection Project
(Western Africa) (3 Minutes read)
Kalpataru Projects International Limited and Transrail Lighting Limited from India secured three lots of the Cameroon-Chad electrical interconnection project (Pirect), as indicated in the contract award notice signed by Victor Mbemi Nyankga, the Managing Director of the National Electricity Transmission Company (Sonatrel), which oversees the project.
The Indian service providers are responsible for the design, supply, and installation of high-voltage lines for the 225 kV interconnection between the Southern Interconnected Network (RIS) and the Northern Interconnected Network (RIN) in three lots. The total value of the contract is estimated at a little more than CFA119.7 billion, with a 20-month execution period for each lot.
In detail, Kalpataru Projects International Limited secures lots 1 and 2 of the projects. Lot 1, valued at CFA41.4 billion, involves high-voltage line work from Nachtigal to Yoko (Central Region). Lot 2 covers the construction of a high-voltage line from Yoko to Tibati (Adamawa Region) for CFA34.1 billion.
Lot 3 is awarded to Transrail Lighting Limited and involves the design, supply, and installation of the high-voltage line from Tibati to Wouro Soua (Adamawa Region) for CFA44.2 billion.For these contracts, the two selected companies competed with several others, including the Sinohydro consortium, whose offers were rejected for non-compliance in all three lots. Companies such as the China Railway First Group consortium, Kec International, and Larsen & Toubro, had their offers evaluated but were not selected.
Kalpataru has previously worked on several electrical projects in Africa and Cameroon, including the construction of the 225 kV power transmission line between Nkongsamba-Bafoussam and Yaoundé-Abong-Mbang. Transrail Lighting Limited, on the other hand, claims to have proven its capabilities in various projects in Africa.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/cameroon-has-the-highest-ict-penetration-in-the-cemac-region/
https://trendsnafrica.com/saudi-arabia-to-fund-cfa-288-bn-to-build-two-road-projects-in-cameroon/
With the awarding of these contracts, the construction work for this project, officially launched on November 21 in Yaoundé, is expected to commence effectively. Once completed, the project aims to supply the northern regions of Cameroon and Chad, thereby improving electricity access rates in both countries. It involves transporting the electric power generated by the Nachtigal Dam (420 MW), still under construction in the Central Region of Cameroon, over a transport network spanning more than 1,300 km to reach the Chadian city of Bongor. Scheduled for delivery in 2027, the Project is estimated at CFA557.5 billion and is financed by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Union, and the two countries involved.
