TANZANIA – The Netherlands has pledged to support Tanzania’s fishing industry by establishing a model farm in Dar es Salaam where it will provide with teaching and training in the sector, Daily News has reported.
According to the Netherlands Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Jeroen Verheul, a model farm would be the driving force towards modern fish keeping, as many farmers would gain practical training from it.
“We have decided to participate in various economic activities, including flower farming, poultry, Irish potato farming and fish keeping,” he said.
Kenya tour
The announcement came after a delegation of Tanzanians visited Kenya to learn modern methods of fish keeping from their Kenyan counterparts.
The Kenya tour group, sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy included officials from the ministry of livestock and fisheries and the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT).
“Kenyans have made strides in the area of fish keeping; so it was an opportunity for those who went there for learning purposes,” he said.
“We will bring companies from Netherlands that will teach staff from Tanzanian companies on better ways of improving agricultural activities.”
The Ambassador also hailed SAGCOT for the efforts it was making in improving agriculture in the country in a bid to attain the President Magufuli-driven objective of attaining middle-income country status by 2025.
The Director of Aquaculture Division in the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Charles Mahika pointed out that fish keeping technologies used in Kenya were available in Tanzania, adding that experts were also available.
The tour which provided opportunities for learning better ways of fish keeping was vital in achieving vision 2025 of middle-income and industrial country status in the country.
Dr Christopher Israel, an extension officer, said the technological gap between Kenya and Tanzania was not big: “What we are required to do is to train our farmers, I believe with appropriate knowledge fish keeping will be modernised.”
