EC donates vehicles to research institute #tanzania

THE coffee industry in the country has received a major
boost after the European Commission in Tanzania handed
over seven vehicles worth over 600m/- to Tanzania Coffee
Research Institute (TaCRI).
TaCRI board chairman, Mr Vedasto Ngaiza, said at the
institute's headquarters in Lyamungu over the weekend that
the Nissan double cabin vehicles would be used in the
coffee green revolution.
Mr Ngaiza hailed the European Union (EU) for contributing
43 per cent of the TaCRI budget, noting that the donated
vehicles would be used in implementation of a project
dubbed Action Programme aimed at increasing the
competitiveness of smallholder coffee growers in Tanzania.
The chairman said the programme was financed by the
European Development Fund geared toward coffee crop
enhancement. In the last 13 years, he said, TaCRI had
researched and developed 19 varieties of hybrid Arabica
and four Robusta varieties.
"TaCRI and all coffee stakeholders are thankful for the
vehicles, since the aid will contribute to augmenting
TaCRI's efficiency and pace in developing the coffee
industry.
Moreover, they will be handy in implementation of the
Action Programme to increase the competitiveness of
smallholder coffee growers in Tanzania," said the chairman.
Mr Ngaiza said it was good that EU had recognized the
importance of stakeholders' needs and continued to have
faith with TaCRI owing to how well it spent money from
different stakeholders on research services.
He said the institute had embarked on an ambitious strategy
to enable coffee growers team up through a participatory
approach, with emphasis on groups and training of trainers.
The approach, he said, had borne fruit as stakeholders were
reached through a groups network in technology transfer,
and at present there were more than 600 farmer clusters,
each with members between 20 and 30 in district councils,
working hand in hand to revitalize the coffee crop through
shoots and transplant technology.
"We have trained more than 378,000 growers through the
participatory approach. Up to now TaCRI has built the
capacity of team members in the production and distribution
of 10 million quality coffee seedlings.
It is estimated that a total of 46 million seedlings have been
distributed and planted on 33,453 hectares, which is 12.5%
of the coffee growing area in the country," said Mr Ngaiza.