Dar es Salaam — Banning the exportation of agricultural produce will not improve agriculture the EAC Secretary General has said.
Speaking during the Regional Private Sector CEO Forum in Dar es Salaam last week, Ambassador Richard Sezibera said that banning of food exportation and seed importation experienced last year by Kenya and Tanzania was not a solution to food insecurity in the region.
"As we build the community, there are challenges that need to be faced, " Sezibera said.
He said there was need for the region to improve the free movement of agricultural produce in order to bring benefits to small scale farmers in the region which will in turn lead to improving their economy.
He noted that despite the region having a conducive environment of growing wheat and sugar, there is lack of capacity to produce such raw materials in the region and this has made countries in the region to request for the importation of sugar due to low production in these countries.
The East African Business Council Chairman, Mr Felix Mosha, noted that there was need to look at both the national and East African dimensions when it comes to farming and selling of agricultural produce so that these do not affect the regional protocols thereby hurting farmers as well.
He said that there was need for the government to offer the farmers the same prices like those offered in the local market during droughts instead of imposing export bans because such restrictions reduce the morale of producing more agricultural produce to most small scale farmers in the region.
"The Tanzania Private Sector have been saying that if goods from Tanzania can be smuggled into Kenya territories then Tanzania should see it as an opportunity to exploit the market," Mosha said
"He noted that Tanzania is endowed with vast agricultural resources that include, arable land, abundance of water supply, and a wide road network and this can make the country produce more for the entire region.
"All we need is for the region to provide us with the zero rated taxes on food because food security is the other coin of national security" the EABC Chairman insisted.
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