Dar es Salaam. Following a sharp rise in sugar prices earlier this year, the government is undertaking a raft of measures to prevent a recurrence of the situation.
They include giving the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) the authority to buy and store sugar, Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe told Parliament on Thursday.
Requesting Parliament to endorse Sh1.249 trillion as the ministry’s budget in 2024/25, Mr Bashe said changes to the law governing NFRA will be instituted through the Finance Act, 2024.
Sugar shortages, which usually result in steep price increases, occur frequently in Tanzania, with the latest cycle having started in January 2024.
Mr Bashe said during that period, wholesalers sold the commodity at between Sh3,800 and Sh4,000 per kilogramme, with retail prices ranging from Sh4,500 and Sh5,000.
“Retail prices were as high as Sh6,000 to Sh10,000 per kilogram in some areas, thus posing a threat to the country’s security and the economy,” he said.
The minister added that several remedial measures were taken by the government, including announcing wholesale indicative prices of between Sh2,600 and Sh2,900 per kilogram and Sh2,700 to Sh3,200 in retail prices.
Mr Bashe said during that time, the NFRA was granted permission to import 410,000 tonnes of sugar.
In further addressing the issue, the government is expected to amend NFRA regulations and classify sugar as essential to food security.
The Sugar Act No. 6 of 2001 will soon be amended to enable the NFRA to purchase and store sugar in the national food reserve to prevent periodic shortages.
“This step aims at eliminating hoarding by some factory owners without compromising the government’s commitment to protecting domestic industries. The government will continue to protect domestic industries and sugar cane farmers, but this protection will not come at the expense of tormenting 61.7 million Tanzanians,” Mr Bashe said.
Sugarcane production will be increased from 4,216 million tonnes, which produced 392,724 tonnes of sugar in 2023/24, to 5,200,000 tonnes of cane, which will produce 520,000 tonnes of sugar.
Mr Bashe said the ministry will also work on legal systems for the importation of industrial sugar, complete negotiations for tax relief for the domestic production of ethanol and continue to allocate suitable areas for sugarcane cultivation in the country.
Other strategies include overseeing the expansion of Mtibwa Sugar, the 12,000-hectare Dakawa sugarcane farms; Kagera sugar factory’s 13,000-hectare farms and empowering the TPC and Kilombero sugar factories to increase production.
Meanwhile, the Sh1,249 trillion being sought as the Agriculture ministry’s budget for the next financial year is 22.3 percent more than the Sh970 billion that was approved for 2023/24.
The rise will cater for several issues in line with the government’s desire to implement six priorities through its 27 strategies.
Mr Bashe outlined the priorities as increasing productivity and production, providing decent employment opportunities and increasing the involvement of youth and women in agriculture.
Others are strengthening food security and nutrition, enhancing access to markets, capital, and exports, strengthening cooperative development and enhancing the use of information and communication technology (ICT) systems in the sector. Mr Bashe said increasing agricultural productivity through more funding for irrigation and research will ultimately create more jobs for Tanzanians.
Sh1.03 trillion out of the total requested amount is to be allocated for development expenditure, with the government planning to increase the size of irrigated land to 1.271 million hectares.
The completion of ongoing and upcoming projects in the 2024/25 fiscal year, Mr Bashe said, will increase allocated land for irrigation by 105.89 percent of the 1.2 million hectares target by the year 2025 and create 2.17 million jobs.
He said the ministry requests Sh393.3 billion for irrigation projects up from Sh361.5 billion approved in the 2023/2024 financial year.
Furthermore, he said the ministry through the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (Tari), has planned to continue carrying out research in the 2024/2025 fiscal year.
Production of traditional cash crops was set to increase from 1.26 million tonnes in the 2023/24 fiscal year to 2.03 million tonnes in the 2024/25 financial year, according to the docket minister.
He said the budget also aims at strengthening extension services through the purchase and distribution of 600 motorcycles, 43 soil health testers and vehicles, as well as strengthening the monitoring and distribution systems.
Parliament’s Industries, Trade, Agriculture and Livestock Committee said despite the Agriculture budget having risen substantially, it is still inadequate.
Committee chairperson Mariam Ditopile said the government should enhance the domestic manufacturing of agricultural inputs which include fertilizers, seeds and pesticides.
“The committee advises the government to allocate a budget for recruiting sufficient extension officers to bring about the intended productivity,” she said.
