By VALENTINE OFORO
THE Ireland Embassy has pledged to continue cooperating with the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI) with an eye to support Tanzania to adopt modern technologies for the metamorphosis of the country’s dairy farming sector.
Targeting to heighten the entire value chain of the economic sector, the focus is to impart the local dairy farmers with key knowledge on production of improved forage, grassland research systems, systematic use of research in the dairy sector, as well as accelerating advisory and education services towards the dairy farmers in Tanzania, especially the smallholder farmers.
The vital development was unveiled here by the Irish Ambassador to Tanzania, Hon Mary O'Neill during an event for the official inauguration of the newly refurbished dairy research infrastructures at the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute ( TALIRI), Eastern Zone Center.
The over 500m/- worth facilities, including modern laboratory, cloud-conected computer room, and a state-of-the- art office structures, have been erected and installed at the popular center through funds from the Ireland Embassy for supporting professional rolling out of the Maziwa Faida Project.
The five- year robust project is a brainchild of the TAEGASC Moorepark Ireland under the financial auspicious from the Irish Embassy inTanzania, at a tune of Euro 3million, at least 7bn/-, working to bolster development of the capacity of key institutes and actors across the dairy value chain in Tanzania..
During her remarks, Ambassador O'Neill stated that her country was keen to support President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan efforts to boost the daily sector in the country.
"This research - based project is very strategic to the Irish Embassy towards Tanzania as it works to further cementing bilateral cooperation between the two countries through creating vital podium to exchange lessons and experiences between the daily experts from Ireland and those from Tanzania, targeting to bring about major results," the Ambassador unveiled.
She observed, the dairy sector in Tanzania has a significant potential as the country stand second in the continent for maintaining larger dairy cows, over 30 million, together with the sufficient land and natural resources to enable for the sector’s full development.
"Currently, the dairy sector in Tanzania produces at least 3.1 billion liters annually, most sold at the free market, but the country has all potential to increase production to further impressed heights if prevailing constraints will be contained," she observed.
She said the ongoing project, Maziwa Faida, has been designed to help curtailing the constraints upsetting the local dairy farmers through supporting long-term sustainable growth of the sector.
"Ireland was once dominated by small-scale dairy farmers who faced a number of challenges, similarly to the current situation in Tanzania, but today the country (Ireland) produces over 8.8billion liters annually with the herd of at least 1.6 milion dairy cows," Ambassador O'Neill informed.
She hailed the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, TALIRI and other players in the sector, including the dairy farmers for demonstrating high maturity and cooperation in the implementation of the key project.
Standing in on behalf of Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Deputy Permanent Secretary (PS) for the parent ministry, Prof. Dr. Riziki Silas Shemdoe said the government was working a number of strategies to improve the sector.
He however briefed, the economic sector has keep on realising impressive growth, including increasing the annual milk production volume from 3.6 billion to 3.9 between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
During the mentioned period, he said the country’s milk processing capacity also catapulted from 77.9 million liters to 81.8 billion liters, whereby milk collection (through the formal sector) increased from 71.8 million liters to at least 93.4.
"It was for this encouraging trend that motivated President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan to improve budget allocation toward the sector to the tune of over 200 percent, from 112bn/- during 2023-2024 fiscal year to a total of 460.3bn/- in the coming financial year," he bragged.
Dr Eric Komba, the Director General (DG) for TALIRI, in his brief remarks hailed the Irish Embassy for their robust cooperation with the governemt of Tanzania towards capacitating the state-owned livestock research institute.
With the project, he said the Institute was standing in a more professional side to support the dairy farmers across the country to improve production and productivity.
Dr. Zabron Cuthibert Nziku, the Director for TALIRI -Eastern Zone expressed that the project was majoring to hatch and disserminating key technologies to the dairy farmers across the country.
Already, he said over 1000 dairy sector stakeholders in Tanzania have so far benefited directly from project.
And apart from the so far beneficiaries, which include female and male dairy farmers who have received better cattle farming practices and improved forage production and use, Dr Nzuki said the robust project has sucessful worked to upscale performance of the relevant experts in diverse ways.
"At least eight local livestock researchers have been sponsored to persue Master's Degree at reputable varsities, whereby others have been regularly jetted into Ireland to acquire further skills and technologies;" he appreciated.
He said the project is working to solve diverse challenges that has been 'arm-twisting' the local dairy cattle farmers to realise needed milk production and productivity, as well as curtailing the long-standing land fracases between crop farmers and pastoralist being propelled by scarcity of grasslands for grazing cattle.
"Through the project, an array of initiatives have been hatched in the TALIRI Tanga research centre, focussing initially on quality forage production, improved data management and supporting innovation through demonstration," he briefed.
For his part, Padraig Frenca, the Head of Livestock Research at Moorepark Ireland, informed that the project was working to introduce and disserminate to the dairy farmers key forage science and technologies.
"The technological work we're dealing with through this project include grassland research systems, growing and managing grassland, as well identifying the right dairy cattle breed for the consumption of the forages," he added.
And he added, in cooperation with the Livestock Institute Training Authority (LITA), the project is transforming the technologies to the farmers through various mechanisms, including demo plots.
"Improving availability of quality forage is among the needed areas dairy farmers in Tanzania need to embrace in order to fetch about targeted outcomes," he said.
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