The government and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have signed two agreements aimed at supporting farmers on issues related to climate change and improve competitiveness in rice farming, particularly in Iringa Region.
The agreements were signed in Dar es Salaam yesterday between the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Eng Mathew Mtigumwe and FAO Country Representative, Mr Fred Kafeero.
Speaking after the signing of the documents, Mr Kafeero said that the agreement on Climate Smatter Agriculture is meant to support and strengthen resilience of farmers in the face of climate change.
He said through the project worth 500,000 US dollars , FAO will be specifically working with Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) in ensuring timely and relevant information is provided in a manner that farmers can understand weather patterns and climate related aspects.
“In financing the project, we are working in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture and other partners,” he said. He further said that the second agreement relates to improving competitiveness particularly for rice production in Iringa Region.
This is financed through the European Union to a tune of 1.5 million US dollars. FAO also uses its technical cooperation programme 3999970001funds to co finance this particular project, ideally it is meant for farmers to make meaningful income out of their work in rice production.
The Ministry’s PS, Eng Mtigumwe, said that the signing of the two agreements will facilitate implementation of the Agricultural Sector Development Programme II.
“The issue of climate and smatter agriculture and improving competitiveness in rice production are well highlighted in ASDP II, thus this is a good sign for implementation of the programme,” he said.
