The Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has called for farmers in the Lake Zone to engage fully in agriculture activities that will enable a production on a large scale to feed industries within the region.
Speaking on the introduction of the ‘Ome Stop Centre’, the Zonal Manager, Ms. Pendo Gondwe noted that the initiative which offers investment permits within three days, forms a major effort from the government with intentions to boost investment in the country. As part of her admonition, she urged farmers to grab opportunities by producing enough crops both for food and industrial raw materials.
“It is true that bureaucracy was a major challenge but we are now on the right track. A number of industries need raw materials, including the Simiyu -based cotton processing Alliance Ginnery (industry), whose capacity is 100,000 tonnes per year, but currently processing only 30,000 tonnes due to shortage of raw materials” she said.
Ms. Gondwe noted further that the industry’s cottonseed is the best produced and delivered to farmers, alongside farm inputs and agricultural experts in various areas of Simiyu and Mwanza regions, to ensure the existence of not only quantity but also quality raw materials. In addition, she disclosed that there are markets for the raw materials to be produced with the need to be found in the Kagera region at the Kagera Sugar industry whose production is set to be 250,000 tonnes by 2030 from its current capacity of 90,000 tonnes.
