TANZANIA is set to benefit from advanced technology and machinery that aims to mechanize the country’s agricultural system to meet farmers’ demands and boost crop production.

Marco Lombardi, Italian Ambassador to Tanzania disclosed this yesterday in Dar es Salaam when speaking at a Business to Business (B2B) session involving Italian Agricultural Machinery producing companies and Tanzanian agricultural stakeholders and traders.

The envoy cited that technology in the Tanzania agricultural sector is key to the sector’s growth.

“Tanzania sees in the agricultural sector a very important resource that represents 60 percent of GDP. The demand for agri-tech is constantly growing in this country. I therefore believe that FederUnacoma’ mission is in line with the logic of win-win collaborations featuring Italy’s action towards Tanzania and the African Continent," he said.

He added: "There is room to work with Tanzania on sustainable agriculture with better machinery, technical skills and build a technical centre where I am informed that one University in Morogoro is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding where people can find help whenever their machinery or tractors have problems that need to be repaired and offer customer care.”

Riccardo Zucconi, Trade Commissioner at the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) said that Tanzania is one of the agricultural economies that needs to be mechanized to produce more, adding that, such production has to involve more intelligence with less use of chemicals, involve a better man power, better agriculture practice and production of better products to export all over the world.

"I believe that Tanzania, a country in which agriculture plays a predominant role in the economy, needs to develop local agricultural enterprises, whether large or small, with adequate agricultural mechanisation, able to make local crops productive, ecological and quality, for the necessary food self-sufficiency and for export,” he added.

Noela Mwamanga, ITA trade analyst said the B2B meeting was an opportunity for Tanzanians to learn new systems that will help advance the country’s agricultural sector, whereas Tanzanian companies will be able to interact and forge partnerships with Italian firms.

“As an agency, we will help several local companies in Tanzania gain sponsorship to attend the 40th EIMA exhibitions in Bologna to meet companies producing agro-machines to see, test and identify machines and technology that can operate well in Tanzania. Many of the Italian companies have shown readiness and interest to come and invest in Tanzania,” he said.

Fabio Ricci, the Deputy Director of FederUnacoma said that the demand for agricultural technologies in Tanzania is met mainly through the instrument of imports, whereas in 2022, it increased by 72.7% compared to the previous year, reaching a total value of 147mn euros, citing that an important part of these imports was ensured by Made in Italy.

“In 2022, Italy was Tanzania’s 12th largest supplier of agricultural machinery, with a market share that is still far from that of its main competitors but is still catching up. Between 2018 and 2022, the value of our exports is more than tripled in value, highlighting a significant incremental course that we consider can continue also in the near future,” he said.

Stephen Mloshi, Managing Director of Reliance Group Limited, said the B2B meeting has provided a great opportunity for Tanzanians to buy technology products from Italy that will play a crucial role in the growth and improvement of our country’s agricultural sector.

“Tanzanians should adapt the habit of attending such meetings to learn from our counterparts. This is an opportunity for Tanzanians to learn and come-up with their own innovations. It is also a call for the youth to engage in agriculture because it provides many employment opportunities,” he said.