Coffee growers in Tarime District, Mara Region, Tanzania have expressed hope that the fifth phase government which is led by President John Magufuli will help them to expand production of the cash crop and eventually get rid of poverty.
“We ask our President, Dr Magufuli, to advise the Ministry of Agriculture to see how they can help us with loans and this will even encourage more youth to join coffee farming”, Mr Abdi Gasaya, who is a coffee farmer at Nyansicha village, made the plea to the president while speaking to reporters at a visit to coffee growing villages in the district recently.
“Apart from providing income to farmers, coffee is generating foreign currency for the national development.
We ask the government to invest more on coffee,” he added. Most coffee growers thanked the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI) for implementing an ambitious project aimed at reviving the coffee sector in the area.
The project involves introduction of inter-cropping of improved coffee varieties and bananas technology that has of late seen major improvement on the living conditions of farmers in the area. Besides producing high yields, the improved coffee varieties are resistant to diseases.
“This is an amazing coffee that takes little time to be harvested, it produces high yield with heavy weight. We need more support from the government through TaCRI so that we can expand our farms and get rid of poverty,” said Mr Ibrahim Burure, the chairperson of coffee growers at Nyabitocho village.
Almost every farmer who had adapted the inter-cropping technology here is now vowing to embrace this kind of farming and increasing production.
“TaCRI have put money on our pockets and my plan is to expand my farm with more coffee plants and bananas,” Mrs Anna John, a resident of Nyarero village said.
TaCRI Manager at Mara Zone, Ms Sheila Mdemu said nearly 800 farmers have benefited from the project which is funded by the European Union (EU) and the government of Tanzania.
Many famers abandoned their coffee farms citing poor income before the coming of TaCRI, thanks to whoever is supporting the initiative.
