TANZANIA has successfully managed to advance from the second position in the production of sunflowers within the African continent to the first position since June 2023.

The development has been propelled due to efforts by the government to implement viable strategies to elevate the performance of the sub-sector, including opening windows for the private sector to chin - in the sub-sector, especially in the seeds production area.

National Coordinator for Sunflower Crop Research, Frank Reuben said over the weekend here that the edible oil raw crop is now cultivated in all regions across the country, except Dar es Salaam.

"The farmers in all regions are growing the sunflower at different levels, and the sub-sector keeps on attracting a record number of farmers," he said.

Currently, he said there are at least 1.6 million farmers cultivating the crop under a total of 800,000 households within the country.

The currently high impetus among the farmers to venture into the sub-sector, according to him, is being triggered by concerted efforts by the government to hatch and disseminate improved technologies in seed production, as well as processing and addition value chain.

For instance, he said, in Singida, Dodoma, and Manyara regions there are 800 edible oil processing plants across the country.

To ensure enough production and availability of improved seeds to farmers, Reuben said the government was applying the approach of public-private partnership (PPP).

"Currently, TARI, as the state-owned seeds research institute is working in sync with the Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT), and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa AGRA to assist the companies in the private sector to produce certified sunflower seeds," he said.

 Through the well-established system, he said AMDT and AGRA are bankrolling the government through TARI, to empower private sector companies to multiply the sunflower seeds.

"As per the project's design, TARI is producing basic and pre-basic seeds, and through cooperation with the Tanzania Official Seeds Certification Institute (TOSCI) the seeds are channeled to the companies in the private sector for the production of certified seeds, certified one and two, and later production of the quality declared seeds (QDS)", he said.

He said the value chain in the production of sunflower seeds, apart from heightening production and availability, also helps to create employment opportunities for a number of the stakeholders in the sub-sector.

He said production of the QDS seeds, which are primarily being produced by the leader farmers, have so far played a good role in helping farmers in remote areas to get the seeds and thus, improving production and productivity.

Since the 2021 agricultural season, he said demand for sunflower seeds in Tanzania generally stands at 15,000 tonnes.

"But this demand of 15,000 tonnes is only if the farmers will manage to cultivate the crop at a total of 980,000 hectares suitable for the growth across the country," he said.

He said effective demand for the seeds is estimated at 5000 tonnes, saying the government was at a good pace to attain the tonnages, though unveiled the country was not experiencing any tall seeds shortages.