Dodoma — The government is considering to end its role in deciding when and where farmers should sell their produce to enhance productivity, an official in the Prime Ministers' Office has said.
The plan, he said, was to soon get rid of an era in which the state has the say on farmers' produce.
"This has been a stakeholders' discussion that since we are advocating agribusiness it is better to leave farmers decide where and at what price to sell their produce," Mr Leo Mavika from the Prime Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government Sector Coordination Development, told young farmers in Dodoma.
He was speaking during the Agricultural Non-State Actors Forum (Ansaf) learning event 2015 that brought together young farmers to discuss the role of the private sector in agriculture and the involvement and gain for the youth held in Dodoma.
The forum extensively discussed the need for the government to leave farmers make decision over their own produce.
Farmers have in the past forums made their case over the state's move to decide on the sale of their crops. The government has been imposing a ban on export of crops to avoid plunging the country into food crises.
But farmers argue that if the country real wants to embrace agribusiness, agriculture also needs to be treated as other businesses whose owners are free to sell whenever they feel the offered price favours them.
"The ongoing discussion aims at treating farmers' produce like other businesses whose owners are free to sell," explained Mr Mavika as he responded to young farmers' concerns over the state's interference in selling crops while its support to peasants remains minimal and sometimes not seen at all.
He told The Citizen on telephone: "It was also agreed in the Dodoma meeting that farmers need to be left free to decide where and at what cost to get loans to finance their activities. If farmers choose more expensive loans it becomes their burden".
However, Mr Mavika said there are some issues that need to be settled before making the plan practical like how should it be operated.
"There is still a need for a proper implementation plan to see how some issues will be handled like when farmers receive government subsidies," he said.
He said the government will continue providing professional advice to farmers who would like to consult the government.
Mr Michael Mayunga, the director of ECD Tanzania, called on farmers to remain with control over the loans extended to farmers to avoid some farmers being lured by some financiers.
