PM plans one week camp on palm revival

THE government is embarking on strategies to revamp palm farming and palm oil production, with Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa planning a one week camp in Kigoma region this month to campaign for the drive.

Speaking here over the weekend, the premier said the government is determined to end importation of cooking oil in the near future through tapping the immense palm oil potentials, domestically.

Officiating at the climax of the International Day of Cooperatives national cel-ebrations in the lakeside city, Mr Majaliwa reaffirmed the government commitment to revive the dormant food and cash crop on which Kigoma region and the country at large depend.

“While we make policy decisions on vibrant agriculture and strong cooperative societies, we have equally decided to ensure no more importation of cooking oil in the future because we can improve our own production, domestically,” he said.

Citing palm oil, the premier recalled the shining past when Tanzania used to donate oil seeds to Malaysia, one of the world leaders in palm oil production, currently.

Thanks to the importance of the crop, the Prime Minister has decided to spare seven days to camp in Kigoma region, mobilising farmers to resume massive but modern palm production.

During the campaign before the end of this month, Mr Majaliwa asked the management of Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) to accompany him and see what they can do to attain the desirable goals.

He highlighted a number of government strategies to boost the contributions of highly dependable five cash crops—cashew nuts, cotton, coffee, tea and tobacco—whose farming requires heavy investments.Contacted for comment, TADB acting Managing Director Japhet Justine told the ‘Daily News’ that even before the premier’s directive, the bank had undertaken a preliminary study on palm farming and production to see the best way of supporting the sector.

“We are doing a number of studies and actually one of the team from the bank has just arrived from Kigoma region with the preliminary report.

We are determined to support the government initiative to revamp the crop especially on value addition among others,” said Mr Justine.

Palm production in Kigoma region has faced many challenges in the past 100 years of the crop introduction, with growers decrying low productivity, lack of stable investment and weak markets.

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