Tanzania Aims to Reduce Imports by Improved Oil Crop Production

The East African nation of Tanzania is planning to increase its production of edible oil crops in order to wean its import-dependent cooking oil market off foreign products, Oils & Fats International reported.  In a call with Tanzanian high commissioner to Malaysia Ramadhan Dau, the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said Tanzania was ready for major investment into the production of oil palm, sunflower and sesame crops, reported Devdiscourse last month.  

Majaliwa said that Tanzania had the potential to reduce its dependency on edible oil imports, but its agriculture sector was hindered by inefficient traditional farming methods, which the government now wanted to replace with more modern practices.  To this end, the country expected to cooperate with Malaysia, which Majaliwa said had successfully made progress in agriculture and industrialisation.  
   
Investment in, and improvement of, the production of the three named crops would not only help the government cut back on imports, but also improve the livelihoods of Tanzania smallholder farmers, according to Majaliwa. The country imported nearly half of its annual edible oil demand of 200,000-300,000 tons, which demonstrated a healthy domestic market and a potential to develop local production of groundnut, sunflower, oil palm, sesame, coconut oil and cotton, according to Devdiscourse.