Regulators of the Tanzania cotton sector have reportedly indicated that, contrary to earlier predictions, the industry is expected to survive the “second wave” of the global economic crisis, which hit Tanzania at the end of 2009.

100,000 hectares of land in Tanzania’s Rufiji valley are to be developed by South Korean corporation KRC as part of an ongoing large-scale farming initiative in developing countries.

In an interview with the BBC, Lee Ki-Churl, of the state-run Korea Rural Community Corp. said the move will see Tanzanian farmers benefit from an education centre as well as from South Korean expertise on the ground.

Current plans would see half the land given over to local farmers with the rest being used to set up a food processing complex for export to Korea.

The deal represents another step in a continuing drive to find fresh arable land for South Korea, one of a number of developed countries now turning to Africa for new agricultural opportunities.

The initiative is partly the product of Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda’s visit to South Korea earlier this month to help develop economic ties between the two nations, including the possibility of co-operation over Tanzania’s considerable amounts of unexploited farmland.

Cheong Wa Dae, the office of the president, reported that South Korea’s President Lee “gave a high evaluation to the progress of Tanzania, which has emerged as an exemplary nation with great growth potential among African nations”.

The deal signals an ongoing growth of interest in economic investment in Tanzania’s 33.2 million hectares of uncultivated arable land, following a Reuters report of Saudi interest in a lease of 500,000 hectares of land in April.

During a recent interview with the Chinese newspaper, Xinhua, the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Stephen Masatu Wasira, announced that the country is not only currently welcoming Chinese investment, but is also anticipating additional investment by the Chinese in the Tanzania agriculture sector.

The Citizen Daily has recently reported that Tanzania agriculture experts are now saying that improvement in the quality of seeds will be critical to the success of the national agricultural revolution strategy, Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First), as increased agricultural production is not possible without the use of quality seeds.

According to a recent report by the Citizen, Dr. Ali Mohammed Shein, Vice President of Tanzania, spoke to reporters during the Nane Nane Exhibitions at the Nzuguni grounds about the government’s promise to continue designating funding from the budget to the development of the Tanzania agriculture program in order to ensure the success of the National Agricultural Sector Development Program (ASDP).

A recent story by The Citizen has indicated that the official launch of Tanzania’s ‘Kilimo Kwanza,’ (Agriculture First) program took place during an event celebrating Farmer’s Day, which took place in the Dodoma Region at the Nzuguni grounds.