On 5th July 2022, the Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania Hon. Hussein Bashe launched the country’s Agricultural Sector Customer Service Center.
The center will provide an opportunity for farmers, input dealers, and other providers in the agricultural value chain to call for free to get agricultural information and answers to every challenge they face, including crops, climate, fertilizer, pesticides, and markets.
Commenting on the launch, Minister Bashe said this is the beginning of a major step towards success where farmers will be informed of what crops are needed in the market so that they can grow in large quantities according to market demand.
“Farmers will be calling a toll-free number on customer service number 0733800200 which will connect them directly to a specialist from the Ministry of Agriculture,” said Bashe.
He explained that, in the past, service providers used to listen to farmers’ challenges over the phone via text messages, but now they will be listened to on the phone directly and the system maintains customer information; and if the Client’s question is not answered at that time, then it will be answered later.
He said that after the completion of the Customer Service System nationwide, the Marketing Unit will be providing information on the prices of produce in the market, and how it is evolving.
For his part; the Permanent General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Andrew Massawe, said that statistics show that the M-Agriculture system has greatly assisted farmers in obtaining quick information, with the Ministry successfully registering 5.5 million farmers through the system, while 3,905 registered external service providers indicate 60,120 farmers’ challenges were addressed.
Tanzania Agriculture Sector
Tanzania’s agriculture is a leading contributor to the country’s GDP.
Boosting the country’s agriculture production and promoting livestock and fisheries has been one of the current administration’s priority areas.
In this regard, the government recently outlined its agricultural transformation agenda in its Ajenda 10/30 to attain a 10% annual growth rate for the sector by 2030.
In April 2022, President Hassan directed the Ministry of Agriculture to work with the Ministry of Finance and Planning to establish an Agricultural Development Fund.
