The Tanzania government banks on current efforts to raise cash crops export for stabilizing the shilling against the US dollar. Agriculture Minister, Japhet Hasunga noted that increasing export of cash crops will rescue the shilling against the dollar, citing the current decline of the local currency.
“To me as Agriculture Minister I see that we have a big task to ensure that we up agricultural production so that we can sell them abroad and get foreign currencies,” he said.
“The weakness of the shilling was caused by downward trend of selling our products outside the country, thus causing deficit of foreign currencies in the country,” he added.
He was speaking in Dar es Salaam at an event to inaugurate new tractors. The agriculture contributes about 30 percent in bringing the foreign currencies into the country.
“Therefore my duty is to increase agricultural production so that we make the sector contribute about 50 percent of the foreign currencies,” he stated.
At a separate meeting, Mr Hasunga said that the government will send the Minister for industries and Trade alongside other top government officials of the ministry to foreign countries in search of the markets for agricultural products.
“From early next month we will deploy the minister and his officials to different countries to look for markets for our crops,” Mr Hasunga stated.
He explained that the government is now focusing on connecting agriculture production and the market, to establish the needs in the markets that would guide production.
The minister was speaking in Dar es Salaam when informing the public over the upcoming Youth Agribusiness conference scheduled for 20th next month in the city.
He pointed out the role of the youth in the agricultural sector in the country, saying the latter have potential to transform the sector for the envisaged industrialisation by 2025.
