Tanzania banks on commodity market to boost farmers’ earnings
Tanzania is counting on the Tanzania Commodity Exchange to boost farmers’ earnings and facilitate market exchange at a time when price fluctuations have taken a toll on farmers’ proceeds.
The commodity exchange which is also expected to foster relationships with international agencies integrates functioning of several key components of agriculture trade namely farmers, traders to services like Warehouse and Warehouse receipt system.
It brings in standardization of quality and allows people to trade using efficient banking channels making transactions more transparent and fast for the participants.
The TCX Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr John Chaggama said TCX has been set up as a vehicle to facilitate market exchange and enhance the price discovery process, thus making farmers earn premium prices that reflect true market value for their products.
“Farmers have long been victim to fragmented, disorganized markets where they have had to sell their products for lower than the market price,” he said. He said TCX is the facility that will make Tanzania become a centre for commodity trading in the region, transforming the life of the society for which over 70 per cent of its people engage in agriculture.
TCX will thus offer more stable, more ethical trading platforms whereby farmers can benefit from fairer transactions and learn how to make wiser marketing and investment decisions.
There will be setting up of key institutions for technical and financial support to the traders to widely expand the delivery of benefits, with additional assistance given to actors association and other participants of the grain-marketing complex.
“The hope behind all of the efforts is that small scale farmers will no longer be at the mercy of traders in the nearest and only market that they know,” he added. He said TCX is expected to make the economy more inclusive, boosting the links between agriculture and finance and making the commodity sector more efficient and competitive.
