Chinese company Epoch Agriculture has announced plans to establish an industrial park that will have a chain of factories to produce cassava flour, cassava starch, animal feeds, organic fertilizer and paper pulp in Tanzania's Mtwara, Lindi and coast regions.

This follows a recent $1 billion partnership agreement between TAEPZ and Tanzania Agricultural Export Processing Zone to create an out-grower program that will ensure sufficient production of cassava for processing in Tanzania.

The move will be a major milestone for commercialization of cassava, a major subsistence crop after maize in Tanzania but grown mainly for domestic consumption. It will also boost productivity of the crop, which is currently very low due to poor farming methods.

Adelhelm Meru, Tanzanian permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, says the agreement, when fully implemented, will transform living standards of farmers as the country's government carries out its commitment to make Tanzania an industrialized nation.

"TAEPZ has promised to ensure that farmers in their groups are well capacitated in terms of meeting the industry demand, with assurance of markets and good prices to our farmers. This will then increase cassava production, create employment and increase the income to our farmers," says Meru.

He adds that, for a long time, Tanzanian farmers have been victims of the exporting of raw materials due to lost jobs. "My appreciation is in seeing the possibility of transforming our cassava farming into commercial processing," Meru says.

Dior Feng, chairperson of TAEPZ, says the agreement will bring hope to Tanzanian farmers, because cassava is a potential food crop in China.

"China has decided to work with Tanzania in transforming its economy," says Feng.

The next phase of industrial development is expected to include production of industrial sugar and ethanol, Feng says.

Feng says that TAEPZ will have out-grower programs and demonstration farms to get sufficient cassava for processing.

When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Tanzania recently, he called for transporting food crops to China.

Godfrey Simbeye, executive director of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, says the foundation will help fast-track the project to ensure that it is implemented in a timely manner through assessment of quality standards to ensure they conform with those of China.

Current statistics indicate that Tanzania produces 5.5 million tons of cassava each year, while TAEPZ operations will consume 2.5 million tons of dry cassava per year.

According to the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, cassava production is well below its potential yield because the majority of farmers use local varieties with low genetic potential and susceptibility to diseases and insect pests.

A 2012 report by the University of Greenwich, titled "Driving Demand for Cassava in Tanzania: the Next Steps", analyzed future demand for cassava in Tanzania and which sectors will drive the demand.

It identified potential drivers of increased local cassava demand as milling, animal feed, beer and beverages, sweets, snacks, starch manufacturing, textile factories, paper mills and hardboard, paint, and pharmaceuticals.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/04/2017 page24)