TAHA Achievements2012

In 2012, TAHA focused its activities on several key areas namely mobilizing partners to support horticulture, institutional strengthening, creating business enabling environment for horticultural development in Tanzania, technical support services, marketing and information services among others. These activities were implemented to boost horticulture in various regions in Tanzania including Southern Highlands, Coastal regions (Tanga, Pwani and Dar es salaam), Northern regions (Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara) and Zanzibar. In addition, the institution also undertook several initiatives to build its capacity to cater for Industry services growing demand.

In the quest to revamp the pineapple industry in Tanzania, TAHA’s CEO Ms. Jacqueline Mkindi led a Team of private sector partners and officials from the GoT on a study tour to Ghana to study, evaluate and analyze Ghana’s pineapple value chain and the best practices around pineapple production and marketing. The team later presented their recommendations on how to address the key challenges facing pineapple growers in Tanzania. In another capacity strengthening activity that involved a study on approaches to organizational development, association management and stakeholder engagement, TAHA’s Operations Manager Mr. Amani Temu joined a study Team to

Major focus areas in 2012

Industry & TAHA Capacity Strengthening

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Zambia and Malawi to meet with the National Farmers Union of Zambia (ZNFU) and the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM). This study tour was organized by ACT with support from USAID SERA. The lessons learned from similar farmer apex associations during this visit would be a key input into the ACT’s strategic planning process. In order to assume the role of an apex association, and to extend its services to the southern corridor and Zanzibar, TAHA established offices in Morogoro and

Project Management & Coordination

In 2012, TAHA has been able to mobilize various partners to support horticultural development efforts. Some of the key initiatives are as summarized below:

i. USAID’s program on institutional strengthening and support to Horticulture which aims at strengthening the capacity of TAHA to serve the industry better especially around the TAHA key strategic areas. TAHA becomes the first local organization in Tanzania to sign a direct grant award with USAID.

ii. Establishing an industry bonded warehouse which focuses on addressing the long standing challenges at the entry and exit points. This project is supported by Business Environment Strengthening Program (BEST-AC).

iii. Enhancing planning and implementation of District Agricultural Development Plans (DADPs), supported by BEST-AC; with a major objective of establishing strong connections between TAHA

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TAHA Participates in G8 Summit 2012 in Washington DC, USA

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and district authorities in identifying issues, coming up with joint mechanism to address them and making sure that horticulture is part and parcel of the ASDP-DADPs funding.

iv. A project on Horticulture incentives Package to attract investors, supported by BEST-AC; with an objective of developing a white paper “wish list” of proposed incentives in the horticulture industry in order to create conducive climate in the industry to attract investment in Tanzania.

v. A project on Horticultural Productivity and Market Access Improvement, This project is supported by Winrock International- under the IWASH project in Morogoro. The project aims at improving livelihoods of the rural poor communities in Mvomero and Kilosa Districts.

vi. Enhancing Market Competitiveness of Horticultural Crops from Small Holder farmers in Zanzibar supported by Finnish Government through the Finnish Farmer Organizations MTK, Agricord and Finnish Women Garden Association. TAHA is working with farmers in Zanzibar to provide technical support to farmers, connecting them to the markets and improve infrastructure.

vii. Partnerships with Match Makers Associates / Maastricht School of Management (MMA/MSM): TAHA signed a collaborative agreement with MMA/MSM on a project to identify and support growth of potential Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to become investment ready so that they are able to meet the eligibility criteria of SME Impact Fund or other financial institutions. This project is financed through the Embassy of the kingdom of Netherlands (EKN) in Tanzania.

Other Strategic Partnerships/Alliances

TAHA believes in Strategic partnerships in addressing issues for Industry development. In the year 2012, TAHA was able to establish and cement partnerships at the local, regional and International fora. These are platforms through which TAHA uses to push horticulture agenda forward. Good examples are as follows:-

National and Regional Partnerships

1. Government of Tanzania:

TAHA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agricultural Food Security and Cooperatives (MAFC) to formalize our partnership on Industry development agenda. The MoU came to put the newly Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act 2004 in motion as far as horticulture transformation is concerned. It is through this MoU that MAFC allocated land for construction of Horticultural Practical Centre of excellence and financial resources to TAHA to develop market support and technology transfer infrastructure in agreed areas mainly in the SAGCOT. TAHA will continue to engage with other Government Ministries on the same agenda.

2. SAGCOT & Kilimo Trust:

Several developments were made in 2012 around TAHA’s partnership with the mentioned organizations in fostering horticulture development in Tanzania. TAHA entered into a strategic agreement with Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT-CENTRE) and Kilimo Trust which is a strong regional organization supporting agricultural value chains in East Africa.

TAHA participated effectively in other National and Regional Platforms, safeguarding the interest of horticultural players. Such Partners are ACT, TPSF, ATE, HCA, HODECT etc.

International Partnerships

3. G8 Strategic Alliance:

TAHA has signed a letter of intent, as one of the G8 partners in Tanzania. The Executive Director was invited to speak at the G8 Summit 2012 in Washington DC joining H.E President Kikwete’s delegation to the Summit.

4. German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF):

TAHA is a local partner of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). TAHA’s CEO was among the panel presenters at the GMF Summit 2012 which was held in Brussels. Ms. Mkindi presentation was on Horticultural Industry experiences and recommendations on how best agricultural transformation in Africa can be achieved through transformational partnerships.

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Partnerships with International consultants / Experts

5. John Deere

A Team of 8 experts from John Deere worked with TAHA to finetune a project plan of establishing a self-sustaining center of excellence for horticultural practical trainings. The team also assisted TAHA Fresh handling ltd on a plan to establish Horticultural collection points. However, TAHA will collaborate with the GoT and the appropriate private sector entities in achieving these major undertakings.

6. International Business Machine (IBM)

A Team of 4 experts from the IBM (IBM Service Corps) worked with TAHA with an objective to evaluate TAHAs Marketing Information System (MIS) and provided TAHA with expert opinion and recommendations on how best the MIS system could be strengthened to better service the Industry.

Others:

TAHA interacted with other international organisations and participated in their events representing the industry such organisations are: Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, The World Food Prize Foundation (WFP), Syngenta Foundation, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nation, Corporate Council for Africa, UNDP, members of the American Congress, to mention but a few.

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Flowers production in Zanzibar

TAHA has advocated for a number of reforms aimed at creating enabling environment for operation of horticultural businesses.

The key achievements realized include:

i. Standards conformity exemption on importation and use of plastic bags for horticultural export. The imported plastic bags will not be subjected to pre-shipment Verification of Conformity to Standards (PVoC) programme.

ii. Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between TAHA and MAFC on establishment of centre of Excellence for horticultural practical training. The MoU provides for opportunity where TAHA can be allocated land for establishment of any such facilities in Tanzania.

iii. Amendment of Finance/VAT Act to include special relief for horticultural farming and trade such as VAT relief on agro-nets, greenhouses for horticulture, generators used in irrigation, water pump used in irrigation, goods and services for building irrigation canals, construction of road networks, godowns and similar storage structures and many other agricultural inputs.

Creating Business Enabling Environment for Horticultural Development in Tanzania

iv. TRA waiver of import duty on boxes imported from Kenyan companies which were previously categorized as operating under Duty Remission Scheme.

v. Addressing the Non Tariff Measures affecting horticultural trade with Kenya. Kenya has agreed to:

• RemoveimportdutyofKSH.2perkgoffresh produce.

• ReduceroadtollfeefromUS$32toUS$15.

• Remove transit fees (KSH. 1,000 pertruck).

• Removeimportbanofcutroses.

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TAHA Chairman and MAFC PS during the MoU signing

This is one of the key pillars of the Association. TAHA works with our partners especially in the area of identifying challenges and coming up with mechanisms to address them through our services. Our objectives have always been to strengthen the horticultural value chains, by directly providing technical support services to the industry or by attracting and coordinating partnerships to ensure service delivery to our members and the industry at large. The following is a snapshot of what was achieved in 2012:

Technical Support Services

• TAHA worked with 107 farmers groups which translatetoabout3,223smallholderfarmersinZanzibar,Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, and Iringa. The services directly provided to farmers included technical trainings and advice on Good Agricultural Practices, access to markets and farming as business, exposure visits of farmers to Kenya, providing opportunity to farmer Group leaders to compare notes, share experiences and borrow best practices from their counterparts in Kenya.

• TAHA also developed 5 sets of training manuals, (available at the Secretariat) to be used for farmers capacity building. The manuals include: Financial Literacy, value chain analysis and development, effective farmer groups formation and development, farming as business, and effective business groups’ governance.

• Training on leadership and supervisory skills was conducted on 200 farm workers of member companies.

• About 4000 representatives of farmer organizations, private sector organizations and NGO’s from the East African countries were trained on various aspects of the

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TAHA has continued to be a one stop shop for information about the industry. TAHA is at the centre of the industry transformation, and this year, we have been working to strengthen our marketing and information department as our key department in ensuring optimal information flow inside and outside the industry, while at the same time, helping in creating linkages amongst partners and other key stakeholders.

To achieve this objective, TAHA implemented the following this year:

Industry database which maintains export and production horticultural data. TAHA has been sharing this information with its key partners including the GoT, researchers, and other interesting parties.

Marketing Information System (MIS): TAHA has been running a MIS, whereby market data is collected, analysed and disseminated to more than 12,000 farmers and other stakeholders. This system has been strengthened to enhance its capacity, and it is in the process of introducing innovative products for the industry as a whole.

Industry Promotion: Our focus this year was to enhance our promotion tools such as the website, bulletin, logo, etc so as to improve the connections between TAHA and our partners. We are now using

Marketing and Information

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horticulture value chain. This is a programme that TAHA is implementing with MS-TDC. • Standards Promotion: as part of TAHA efforts to ensure that smallholder farmers are able to afford

the cost and knowledge of complying with international market standards, TAHA participated in the process of translating the GLOBAL GAP Version 4 into Kiswahili. The document has already been approved by the Global Gap International, and it has been posted on the GlobalGAP website (http://www1.globalgap.org/cms/front_content.php?idart=2654&changelang=1).

• TAHA strengthened its internal capacity to be able to coordinate standard compliance practices in the industry. In this regard, the TAHA Technical Manager and other identified experts (including GLOBAL G.A.P inspectors and GLOBAL G.A.P lead auditors) have been undergoing trainings at the local, regional and international levels with the objective of creating a pool of experts to facilitate standards matters in the industry. TAHA is planning to establish an industry Standard Business Unit (SBU) as a subsidiary of TAHA to manage and coordinate all standard matters and protocol in the industry.

• Pineapple initiatives: TAHA under the strong support from the GoT and Development Partners is championing a process of revamping the fruit industry as one of the key horticultural value chains, with initial focus on transforming the pineapple value chain in the country. This initiative involved study visits to other countries such as Ghana, as part of the learning process on how to build the capacity of pineapple farmers and other value chain actors in the industry through technology advancement and market access strategies.

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TAHAs upgraded website to announce various events and documentations. TAHA engaged in the following in ensuring that the industry was highly promoted.

Recruitment Database: TAHA has opened up a database which captures good CVs from different expertise for sharing with the industry

Publications: we have been promoting the industry by publicising horticultural articles through printed media platform such as Kilimo Kwanza- the Guardian, Mkulima Mbunifu magazines, etc.

Trade shows: This year we represented the industry in the Nanenane agricultural show in Arusha and Dodoma. TAHA emerged the third winner in the Arusha nanenane show, under the NGO’s category.

Membership Drive: TAHA recruited a substantial number of new members in all three categories (Comprehensive, Allied, and Associate member categories)

Improved business connections/Linkages: about 20 farmer groups were linked to service providers and local markets. Farmers were also trained on how to interpret the market information provided to them, in a bid to empower them to negotiate business with their partners.

TAHA leads steakholders to discuss Industry issues with H.E President Dr. J.K.

TAHAFresh Handling Limited (TFHL) is growing stronger every year, and the members are enjoying its reliable and quality services. The TAHAfresh Board and Management has been very active this year in ensuring that the company is taking the right direction in becoming a competitive partner in the logistic industry.

Industry Logistics services through TAHAFRESH Handling Limited

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We provide affordable, Reliable and Quality Logistic Services to the Industry

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Listed, are some of the achievements this company has realized in 2012:

i. UptoOctober2012,TFHLhasairlifted710,042Kgsofhorticulturalproduce,andhastrucked751,772Kgs across the Namanga border.

ii. The company is now operating two refrigerated trucks. Trucking is a new business line introduced this year.

iii. TFHLCreditfacilitywasintroducedandhasbeenputintooperation.Anamountof$64,644.36hasbeen put into revolving credit to support transportation of fresh produce.

iv. The company has acquired licenses and has been accredited by several institutions improving its competitiveness in the field:a. TFHL has been Licensed or approved by TCAA (Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority) to operate a

Perishable Handling Facility at Kilimanjaro International Airport. b. TFHL has been awarded agency for KLM c. TFHL has also been inspected recently by IATA (International Air Transport Association) as a final

check to start operations.d. TFHL is also an associate Accredited member of CASS Cargo Accounts Settlement System (CASS)e. TFHL submitted its Clearing & forwarding license applications in July 2012, and were inspected

byTRAinNov2012awaitingofficialissuanceofthelicenseearlyyear2013.v. To be able to service its members best and in close collaboration with TAHA, TFHL has already

acquired an office at the Namanga Border for its daily operations, which will be officiated by January 2013.ThecompanyhasanofficeatKIAaswell.

Fresh produce at the exit point to export market

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• InawaytofacilitateaccesstofinanceinthesectorandaspartoftheTAHAworktoensurestrongconnections between the industry and service providers, mainly financial institutions , TAHA connected different financial institutions to members such as: Grassroots Business Fund, Acumen Fund, Africa Enterprise Challenge fund, SME Impact Fund and Trade Mark East Africa Challenge Fund.

• TAHA hosted visitors from the French Development Agency (AFD)who are interested to fundcompanies with projects which have community impact. The AFD visited members who work with small scale farmers and indicated interest in funding members or institutions which are willing to offer credit to small scale horticultural farmers.

Access to Finance

TAHA promotes new technologies for improved productivity

P.O.BOX 16520, ARUSHA, TANZANIATel / Fax: 255 27 2544568 E-mail: taha@habari.co.tz

Website:www.tanzaniahorticulture.com