Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has outlined her country’s potential to become food secure and play a key role in regional agriculture by utilizing unused land for farming. Speaking at an Africa Agriculture Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, she emphasized the importance of increasing agricultural allocations in Tanzania’s annual budgets to support farmers in both food and cash crop production ventures.
President Samia highlighted the need to enhance production for local consumption and export markets within the Eastern and Southern Africa region. She expressed confidence in Tanzania’s progress towards achieving these goals, drawing from her visits to the country’s farming regions and insights gained from the Feed Africa Dakar 2 Summit held last year.
The Tanzanian government has significantly increased its agriculture development budget from Tsh940 billion ($345 million) in 2023 to Tsh1.2 trillion ($441 million) this year, representing a 23.7 percent rise. President Samia was among the African leaders attending the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, where discussions centered on global food security challenges exacerbated by climate change.
The dialogue, themed ‘Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy,’ addressed the urgent need to address food insecurity, with approximately 830 million people in Africa facing starvation due to poverty. In response to the Dakar Summit’s recommendations, President Samia established a Presidential Advisory Agricultural Council to oversee their implementation.
In addition to participating in the World Food Prize award ceremony, President Samia held talks with US officials, including the deputy administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Isobel Coleman. These discussions focused on policy reforms in Africa and increased US government funding to support trade and investments in the agricultural sector.
The US currently invests over $400 million annually in sustainable agriculture projects aimed at reducing poverty through increased agricultural production. President Samia’s engagements in Des Moines also aimed to explore opportunities for American companies to invest in Tanzania’s agricultural sector and enhance value chains in the country’s agricultural production.
Overall, President Samia’s efforts underscore Tanzania’s commitment to boosting agricultural productivity, ensuring food security, and fostering partnerships with international stakeholders to drive sustainable development in the region.
