TMEA VOWS TO SUPPORT TANZANIA IN MARKETING RICE

Posted on : Thursday , 24th September 2015

TRADE Mark East Africa (TMEA) has pledged to support Tanzania to capitalise on its comparative advantage on rice production by increasing sales of the commodity in the regional markets.
The TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) Country Director, Dr Josephat Kweka, said in Dar es Salaam at the high level policy dialogue for rice value chain stakeholders in the EAC Common Market that although Tanzania leads in rice production it was still not able to take advantage of the readily available markets in neighboring countries.

It is estimated that 18 per cent of farming households grow rice and the economic activity in the rice sector contributes to 2.66 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The country currently produces about 1.40 million tonnes of rice; grown mainly by small scale farmers.

The theme of the conference was the National and Regional Policy Measures for Development of Rice Value Chain in the Context of Opportunities in the EAC Common Market. Dr Kweka said TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) was ready to partner with other stakeholders in implementing recommendations arising from the meeting. “This country is not short of policies and strategies, what is needed are actions and we are ready to partner in this important endeavor,” he said.

The conference was organized by TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) and attended by members of the private and public sector from within EA countries. He said TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) was in the middle of programming its five -year second phase of operation that will start in January 2017 which will focus on promoting cross border trade under a new principle called “Good Neighbor Policy”.

“In that policy we will be supporting partner states in East Africa and other partners especially the private sector to leverage opportunities arising from cross border trade,” he said.

He said those opportunities cannot be limited to East Africa as the region needed to trade with other countries such as Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and others.

“In that sense cross border trade becomes broader and not limited to geographical configuration,” he said. He said TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) was grateful and happy with the partnership with the private sector apex body in Tanzania in advocating better and improved business environment that promotes regional trade in East Africa.