[Tanzania] YARA announces $26 million investment in Dar port to improve supply of fertilizer

Tanzania is modernizing Dar es Salaam, its largest port, in partnership with local and foreign stakeholders. The Norwegian ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Hanne-Marie Kaarstad hopes the Tanzanian Government will provide and ensure a conducive business environment to Yara and other partners in future.

By building the fertilizer terminal in Dar es Salaam and applying a holistic approach, the Ambassador said, “Yara is in partnership with other value chain stakeholders in developing a more organized and high-quality extension service training and agriculture input distribution in Tanzania.”

With a new push to develop agriculture in Tanzania’s southern highland regions under the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), fertilizer has become a hugely significant farming input.

SAGCOT’s partners aspire to transform the corridor into a region that will generate 1.2 USD billions for farmer revenues and contribute to Tanzania’s ambition to become a middle income country in the next eight years. SAGCOT also wants the region to become a potential breadbasket for Tanzania and beyond.

Ms Kaarstad said the terminal has made fertilizers more accessible to many farmers around the country, adding that “Yara’s investment in Tanzania has proved to be a win-win situation for Yara, SAGCOT, farmers; and the Tanzanian government, critical for continued growth and development in rural areas whilst contributing to food security.”

Yara TanzaniaManaging Director Alexandre Macedo told the gathering that the terminal, with a bagging capacity of 422,400 tons per year, has a capacity of eight bins holding three thousand tons and an addition of two bins holding five thousand tons, hence a total capacity of thirty four thousand tons of fertilizer.

He described the southern corridor as a major fertilizer market and where there is fast development. Partners in that area include commercial and small holder farmers, the MD said explaining that they are supplied with distributers and other dealers who comprise two thirds of the Yara business.

“This means YARA is connected to, and dependent on mutual commercial exchange with small holder farmers. Farmers need to preserve soil as that is what enables them to produce sustainably..
YARA and SAGCOT are working towards ensuring the right fertilizer is used for the right crops and soil with the right application of lime.”

Mr Macedo said Yara Tanzania has been ploughing three million USD yearly in extension services for several years. Yara employs 22 agronomists, 37 seasonal agronomists providing capacity building in the country, and supports establishment of 1500 demonstration sites.

It works in collaboration with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the World Food Program (WFP) on coffee and maize projects to reach 45,000 farmers this year and help them to produce quality crops, ultimately leading to improved livelihoods.

www.yara.com