The Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania has recently launched the National Rice Development Strategy Phase II to increase the production of crop yields from 2.2 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes by 2030.
Tanzania is one of the 32 countries that are members of the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD), a comprehensive initiative to support the efforts of African countries aiming at doubling African rice production within ten years.
CARD is financed by 23 partners including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Speaking at the launch of the initiative, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Professor Mathew Mtingumwe indicated that the project is to be implemented for a period of 12 years from 2018 to 2030.
Meanwhile, the representative of JICA Mr. Suzuki- San reminded that rice is a key crop in Tanzania for being one of the most consumed and productive.
Rice is the third most important food crop in Tanzania after maize and cassava.
In September 2018, the Government of Tanzania suspended imports of rice on the basis that while the country’s annual demand for rice was 900,000 tonnes, local production in the same year reached 2.2 million tonnes
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