The Agriculture Minister of Tanzania, Hussein Bashe, told the parliament that the government has set aside 400 hectares of land to grow sugarcane seedlings. These seedlings will be given to sugarcane farmers to help increase sugar production in the country, reported News Ghana.
Bashe said that the Sugar Board of Tanzania has partnered with the Tanzania Prisons Production Corporation to grow sugarcane seedlings in Turiani, Morogoro Region.
Currently, Tanzania produces about 4.2 million tonnes of sugarcane each year, which gives around 392,724 tonnes of sugar. This is about 88.25% of what the country aims to produce. Bashe mentioned that they are looking into finding suitable areas to grow sugarcane with irrigation.
He also said that heavy rains, influenced by El Nino, have affected sugarcane production, causing a shortage of sugar in the country. To tackle this, the National Food Reserve Agency has allowed sugar traders to import 410,000 tonnes of sugar between January and December 2024.
