THE National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) is gearing to spend at least 202bn/- to purchase 92,000 tonnes of sugar as a buffer against unnecessary price increases, dthe agency says.

Dr Andrew Komba, the NFRA chief executive officer said in an interview that the agency will purchase the sugar under the supervision of the Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT), while it is working to install well organised storage facilities.

He also talked of NFRA acquiring 19 warehouses from the Tanzania Initiative for Preventing Aflatoxin Contamination (TANIPAC) in order to cater for expanded market demand for cereals in neighboring countries.

NFRA will also resume implementing a project for building modern silos in variopyus regions, he said, noting that maize tonnage was increasing since President Samia Suluhu Hassan directed a significant price increase for farmers.

NFRA’s advisory board has decided that the cereals be purchased up to next February, with an option to extend the buying season to next year’s agricultural harvesting period, he said.

Three years ago NFRA had funds to purchase 100,000 tonnes of maize but the cereal purchase financing has now been elevated to purchasing up to 1m tonnes, he said, noting that sugar will be purchased from different sources within the country.

This will automatically provide a buffer when stocks run low and sugar has to be imported, he said, explaining NFRA activity as set to expand to start purchasing more crops, like peas, beans and lentils, adding to sugar, maize, rice and sorghum.

He similarly pointed at sourcing more funds through food bonds, opening possible niches for investors to chip in, enabling the agency obtain loans from financial institutions.

The credit will be provided as business loans, refunded after selling the cereals, he said, noting that 464bn/- is expected to be obtained through this procedure.

Building the warehouses will take upwards of 35bn/- with renovation of other cereal storage facilities at diverse centres across the country also lined up, he said.

NFRA expects to build 12 new warehouses with 50,000 tonnes storage capacity, while renovating six cereals storage towers in Sumbawanga, Dar es Salaam, Songea and Arusha.

Currently, NFRA can store 365,000 tonnes at own facilities, set to double by June next year, projecting storage capacity of up to 3m tonnes by 2030, he added.