IITA Technologies to be Featured in the Newly Formed Cassava Producers and Processors Association in Tanzania

Abubakri Mzanda, IITA-ACAI staff, explaining the functionality of AKILIMO App to the Deputy Minister for Agriculture Omary Tebwete Mgumba

Cassava value chain actors in Tanzania launched an association that will act as an umbrella body to address issues facing cassava producers and processors in the country. Tanzania Cassava Producers and Processors Association (TACAPPA) was inaugurated at a two-day event at Mwalimu Nyerere Trade Fair Ground in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on the 7th and 8th of February.  

TACAPPA will serve as a uniting entity for the cassava sector, promote cassava production, establish market linkages, create awareness about the use of quality cassava seed and build the capacity of members.  

IITA was represented at the event by a team of staff from Dar es Salaam station led by the ACAI project coordinator for Tanzania Freddy Baijukya. ACAI staff from Tanzania were part of the IITA team and hosted a booth to showcase and demonstrate the use of AKILIMO tools in providing cassava agronomy advice. The IITA team also showcased included NURU Application, the Seed Tracker and cassava transformation technologies by IITA Dar- Youth Agripreneur group. 

Speaking at the event, Baijukya assured TACAPPA of IITA’s supports in the provision of new and appropriate technologies to improve cassava productivity, post-harvest management, and cassava transformation.  

TACAPPA was inaugurated by the Deputy Minister for Agriculture Omari Tebwete Mgumba who pledged government support to the new body. He highlighted a number of government initiatives predating TACAPPA including cassava breeding programs through Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute, TARI, a national cassava production campaign, signing cassava market protocol with China among many others.  

Fredrick Baijukya, IITA-ACAI project Coordinator for Tanzania; and Abela Minis, of Youth Agripreneur group, explaining the AKILIMO Decision Support Tools and cassava transformation technologies at the launch of TACAPPA

Other officials who graced the occasion include the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Stella Manyaya, and Zacharia Muyengi, the acting director for the Agricultural Sector Development Program (ASDP-II) in the Office of the Prime Minister. 

TACAPPA will become an important platform for the transfer and dissemination of new technologies developed by IITA and other agencies to improve the cassava sector in Tanzania.