Tanzanian Potato farmers to benefit from investment in seed potato production

April 26, 2011
Mtanga Farms Limited (MFL) - in collaboration with Nigeria-based company Tonny Elumelu Foundation - will invest in a 2,200-hectare farm to produce the potato seeds in Tanzania.

Beneficiaries of the project will be potato farmers proven to be capable to increase yields threefold when provided with quality seed potatoes.

The progress comes following a deal inked recently by Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) with Heirs Holdings Limited and Tanzania-based farmers firm, Mtanga.

A statement made available to the East African Business Week in Dare es Salaam said the companies will invest in the establishment of the seed potato industry in Iringa region. "This deal will help Mtanga establish a seed potato industry which will significantly benefit more than 125,000 local farmers in the region alone,"it said.

It noted that Tanzania doesn't have new potato varieties registered locally in the last decade.