Mwanza: TAHA has urged farmers in Tanzania not to be afraid of competition and instead to seize the market opportunities for their produce in the East African Community markets. Speaking during the Farmer's Field Day celebrations held on December 08, 2020 for Mwanza Region in Isanzu area in Ilemela District, TAHA’s Program Manager, Eliachea Shang'a encouraged farmers to view the expanded market as an opportunity and utilize the production advantage that Tanzania has. "Let us open our eyes and be ready to dare without fear of the East Africa Community given the more resources existing, we have enough land and technical experts to help us" stressed Shang'aa. She also urged farmers especially of vegetables, spices, fruits, and flowers to keep their financial records to overcome the challenge of ineligibility to access loans from banking institutions as there is still a capital challenge for some farmers. The Ilemela District Administrative Officer, Neema Kipeja who represented the District Commissioner, Dr. Severine Lalika said that more than 80 percent of Tanzanians depend on agricultural activities so the Government has created a friendly environment for stakeholders including TAHA to carry out their responsibilities effectively including empowering farmers to produce productively. "The government has eliminated various levies on agricultural products and inputs to encourage citizens to focus on agricultural activities while also connecting them with financial institutions to get low-interest loans and overcome the capital challenge," said Kipeja. For his part, Shaban Lukona, chairman of the Jitegemee Isanzu farmers' group, said the training provided by TAHA through a youth, life and work project funded by Plan International has helped them grow productively and overcome the challenge of unemployment. "TAHA works very hard to educate us, if you call them, they would come quickly and advise us when we have challenges such as pest-infested crops where they advise us on the type of pesticide and how to use it" noted Lukona. Lukona added that TAHA has also helped them to connect the drip irrigation system, access to markets and agricultural inputs. Farmer's Day on the farm brings together farmers who are members of the TAHA to learn the best agricultural technology and techniques through the farmers' farm class where Mwanza Region has involved farmers from Magu, Misungwi, Nyamagana, and Ilemela districts.
