Tanzania faces the prospect of pursuing a fruitless industrialization drive

leader of the Uhuru Torch race, Mr Amour Hamad Amour 

In Summary

• They should love their own products to support local producers

Tanga. Tanzanians have been cautioned that they face the prospect of pursuing a fruitless industrialisation drive if they do not believe in locally produced products.

The caution was given today, October 1, by the leader of the Uhuru Torch race, Mr Amour Hamad Amour when the torch visited and inspected the sisal fibre products manufacturing factory, TANCORD 1998, in Muheza district.

Mr Amour warned that the value chain of the sisal crop undertaken by the factory would be ineffective if people do not buy and use products from the factory.

“If we want industrialised to take root we should inculcate the habit of using locally produced products. This will strengthen the producers to increase employment opportunities, improve the income levels of farmers who feed these industries and finally strengthen our country economic base,” he said.

He called on Tanga residents and Tanzanians in general to pursue sisal farming seriously because of the ready market in the form of the processing factory.

Earlier, briefing rthe gathering on the company, Katani Limited Development Director, Mr Juma Shamte, said that they fully support the Government policy of selecting five major crops for development of their value chain.

He said such a policy would profit people engaged in the production and utilisation of the crop.

However, he called on the Government to consider including the sisal among the major crops under the initiative.

“Don’t take too long to include sisal in the industrialisation value chain development because we are ready for that,” he insisted.