Prof Damian Gabagambi who is the dean, School of Agricultural Economics and Business Studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), said the government was yet to invest in sesame production despite the crop’s importance to the economy and peoples’ health.
He was speaking during a one-day training to journalists on mainstreaming of sesame production and marketing realities organised by the National Network of Farmers Groups in Tanzania (Mviwata) and Africa Institute for Economic and Social Development (INADES).
The training is part of the implementation of Tanzania Smallholder Sesame Production and Marketing Project (TSSPMP III 2015-1. The project is designed to improve production, quality, management and marketing practices and to incorporate small holders into the sesame value chain.
The project is funded by Comic Relief that is based in the UK to the tune of 3bn/-. It is currently implemented by Farm Africa and its partners Community Support Initiatives (Cosita) in Babati-Manyara, INADES at Bahi-Dodoma and Manyoni-Singida, while Mviwata implements across all the three districts.
“The market for sesame crop is three times higher in Tanzania than wheat production. If the crop is cultivated effectively it will contribute to a large percentage of the country’s economy,” he said.
He added that the government was supposed to establish a specific board for the sesame crop to oversee the entire chain of production and its contribution to the national economy.
“Most farmers are ignorant and lack acknowledge on the potential of the crop in terms of economic development. That is why a few of them are engaged in its production,” Prof explained.
For his part, Mviwata executive director Steven Ruvuga said in 2013 the average sesame production was 6.7 per cent making the country to attain the status of the world’s average producers.
Ruvuga said by 2013, a total of 560,000 tonnes of sesame was produced in Tanzania. Today production is down due to lack of government support, he noted.
“The project implemented in Bahi and Manyoni is targeting at helping farmers to develop production of sesame using a modern seed named ‘Lindi 2002’,” he said.
“Our aim is to show how the crop has potential to boost farmers and the national economy,” the director explained.
The project facilitator for Mviwata, Acquiline Wamba, said the sesame crop was highly cultivated in Lindi, Mtwara, Ruvuma, Morogoro, Dodoma, Tanga and Coast regions as well as the southern parts of Tanzania such as Rukwa and Mbeya.
She added that during the 2012 farming season, the production of sesame recorded 59,103 tonnes, equivalent to 9.2 per cent of the total oil seed crops.
Wamba mentioned some challenges that still face the crop to include lack of subsidy from the government, contrary to other crops that have been subsidised by the government.
“They also include the absence of a policy on sesame crop to guide and develop the entire activities involved with it for the benefit of the community,” she said.
She called upon the government to invest in the crop to stimulate its production for economic growth.
Statistics show that in 2013, Tanzania was among top five exporters of sesame in Africa after India, China, Ethiopia and Sudan.
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