THE Ministry of Agriculture has expressed its zeal to invest heavily to revitalise and boost the production of Pyethrum from the current 2400 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes per year by 2025. Responding to a question from Mbeya Rural MP Oran Njeza, Minister for Agriculture Japhet Hasunga said that through the implementation of the 10- Year Strategic Plan (2011-2021) that targets at strengthening pyrethrum production in southern regions, the government is implementing several measures to ensure that the farmers benefit from the crop. In his basic question, Njeza wanted the government's plan in increasing production as well as boosting the access of the pyrethrum cash crop to the growing demand at the global market. Minister Hasunga said that in a bid to increase production of the crop the government has decided to bring together farmers into forming groups where so far a total of 137 groups of farmers have been formed. "Through formation of these groups farmers have been exposed to knowledge that has led to improvements in the quality of the produced yield which has steadily improved to 1.3 per cent against the international required average standard of 1.24 percent," Hasunga said. According to him, the government has continued to encourage farmers to join the Agriculture Marketing Co-operative Societies (AMCOs) where so far three AMCOs have been registered and other 10 are in the final stages of registration. He asserted that despite all these efforts, the governmnet will also continue to provide education to farmers on the application practices (GAPs) to increase production and improve the quality of market that meets the global market demand. The government will continue to encourage investment especially value addition where there are currently two processing plants in the country, namely Tanextract factory located in Inyala Region and Pyrethrum Company of Tanzania (PCT) factory located in Mafinga, Iringa Region," he said. He however added that the industries are capable of processing between 2800 and 3000 tonnes each per annum. The government will continue to encourage farmers to engage in commercial agriculture through the contract farming system. The government will also continue to conduct domestic and foreign market research using envoys representing Tanzania in ther respective countries to ensure that the country wins access to the global pyrethrum market," he added. more details ...

PRODUCTIVE industries still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to protecting the environment, if recent inspection in Northern Zone is anything to go by. Apparently as Tanzania marks the 46th World Environment Day, the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) inspected a total of 460 factors in the Northen Zone and discovered that more than 53 per cent fell short to nature protection rules and regulatior "There are 260 factories that lack the environment certification, some were established without undergoing the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), while others still breached the required regulations in their respective operations," revealed NEMC's Zonal Manager Lewis Mtemi. That means out of 460 factories that have been inspected by NEMC, some 200 possess clean bills of health regarding the set standards of enviroment protection. The NEMC Northern Zone Assistant Engineer, Ms Nnacy Nyenga, pointed out that communities have started to take negative environment occurrences as normal and therefore, even when cautioned against destructive habits, they hardly take heed. "People are used to drought, famine and other hazards thinking it is normal, not working that most of these disasters are man-made, resulting to negative effects of climate change and global warming," she said. As Tanzania joins the rest of the global community is observing the 46th 'World Environment Day,' with this year's theme being 'Celebrate Biodiversity,' the NEMC has opted to use the media in conveying 'green' messages to the public in a bid to play safe amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on 5 June every year, and is the United Nations' principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment. The Day was first held in 1974, and since then it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging from environmental issues to marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. more details ...

SERIKALI imezinganisha Benki ya TPB na TIB Corporate Ltd kuanzia jana, ikiwa ni hatua yake ya kuboresha utendaji wa mashirika na taasisi za Umma. Hayo yalielezwa jana jijni Dodoma na Msajili wa Hazina, Athumani Mbuttuka wakati wa kuelezea hatua iliyochukuliwa na serikali ya kuunganisha benki hizo. Alisema serikali imechukua hatua hiyo kwa lengo la kuboresha utendaji wa benki inazozimiliki ili kuwa na benki moja ya biashara ambayo ni imara. "Serikali imeendelea kuchukua hatua mbalimbali zenye lengo la kuboresha utendaji wa mashirika na taasisi za umma ikiwamo kuunganisha taasisi zinazotekeleza majukumu yanayofanana ili kuongza ufanisi na kupunguza gharama za uendeshaji. "Kwa muktadha huu, kuanzia Juni 1 mwaa 2020, Serikali imeamua kuunganisha benki za TPB na TIB Corparate na kwa hatua ya awali benki ya TPB itachukuwa mali na madeni ya Benki ya TIB Corporate." Mbuttuka aliongeza: "Muungano huu unalenga kuleta mageuzi makubwa ya kiutendaji, kimfumo, kimuundo, na kitaswira ili benki hii iweze kuhimili ushindani wa kibiashara kwenye sekta ya fedha." "Wateja wote wa Benki ya TPB na Benki ya TIB Corporate wataendelea kuhudumiwa kwenye matawi yao ya sasa hadi hapo watakapotaarifiwa vinginevyo. "Serikali inawahakikishia wateja wa benki hizi mbili pamoja na umma kuwa huduma za kibenki hazitaathirika kwa vyovyote vile kutokana na mabadiliko haya. Kuhusu wafanyakazi, Mbuttuka alisema hakuna mfanyakazi ambaye atapoteza kazi katika mabadiiko hayo. more details ...