VP: WHY POVERTY ALLEVIATION DRIVE CAN'T BE ACHIEVED

Vice President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, greets former BoT Governor Edwin Mtei at the Arush International Conference Centre yesterday after opening the 17th International Finance Association meeting on a good working environment for the agriculture sector. PHOTO|VP OFFICE 

By Patty Magubira,The Citizen Reporter

Arusha. The Vice President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, yesterday blamed the slow pace in poverty reduction in the country on agriculture’s sluggish growth rate of 4 per cent.

“Growth of the national income per capita though averaged 4 per cent, it is as low as 1 per cent for the rural economy,” Dr Bilal said.

He said when opening the 17th Conference of financial Institutions here that it was not surprising, therefore, the 33.4 per cent rural poverty was significantly higher than the urban one which stood at 21.7 per cent.

Poverty in the country cannot be seriously addressed without addressing constraints holding back agricultural productivity, including those related to financing of smallholder agriculture and agribusiness, he said.

The conference has since its inception in 1980 been serving as a platform for heads of financial institutions, academicians, and practitioners to deliberate on issues pertaining to the banking industry.

Themed Financing Agriculture and Agribusiness Challenges and Opportunities in Tanzania this year, the two-day conference participants will share thoughts and experiences and chart out ways for expanding finance to the sector.

The Governor of the Bank of Tanzania, Prof Benno Ndulu, said agriculture was more effective in raising income of the poor by two to four folds compared to other sectors.

“In fact, over two-thirds of the working population derives its livelihood from agriculture with the smallholder farmers constituting an important segment of the agricultural value chain,” he said. He said limited access to finance was, however, an impediment to farmers in adopting better technologies to improve productivity, prompting the National Financial Inclusion Framework devised in response to the 16th conference last year to set targets and actions.

As a result of financial innovations and information and communication technology, Prof Ndulu said 57 per cent of adults currently had access to formal financial services compared to barely 15 per cent in 2009.

CREDIT SOURCE: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/VP--Why-poverty-alleviation-drive-can-t-be-achieved/-/1840392/2534006/-/11op9yvz/-/index.html