The Acting Cashewnut Board
Chairman, Mr Mudhihir Mudhihir, announced the good news on Monday, when
addressing a press conference in Dar es Salaam on the sidelines of the Third
International Cashew Conference (ICC).
Mr Mudhihir revealed that
construction of the factories in Mtwara, Tunduru and Mkuranga were earlier
planned to start last month, but due to some logistical constraints the
projects have been delayed.
Construction of the three
factories are expected to bring about tremendous change to the welfare of
thousands of cashew growers in the country as well as providing jobs to several
hundreds of thousands of people in the areas.
According to officials in the
Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperatives and Marketing, the proposed factories are
projected to absorb up to 80 per cent of cashew nut produced in the country.
Most of the crop is currently exported raw to several Asian countries including
India, where processing factories continue to offer jobs to thousands.
It is hoped that the proposed
factories will bring to an end decades of the unfortunate scenario that saw
Tanzania exporting jobs to Asian nations.
However, the processing factories
should also be extended to other crops including cotton, coffee, oil seeds and
fruit, which continue to be exported raw, much to the chagrin of millions of
farmers. Tanzania has great potential in developing those crops and is among
the leading producers on the African continent.
Tanzanians have for long been
calling for establishment of processing factories and broad industrialisation
programmes to accelerate poverty reduction. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi
(CCM) in its 2015-2020 Election Manufesto underlined that industrialisation and
agro-based factories are among its priorities.
President John Pombe Magufuli is
his campaign trail repeatedly declared that industrialisation was going to
feature prominently in his development agenda. This is the time for action.
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