Tanzania Plans a Major Foray into China’s Grain Market
By
ADAM IHUCHA -- Tanzania, the East Africa’s biggest maize producer, plans to export as much as 40 percent
of its yellow-corn surplus to China.
The country will sell
as much as 1 million metric tonnes as 2014 harvest bursts its
granaries with a record 2.5 million-tonnes-surplus.
Technical bilateral talks
between Dar and Beijing are in the final stages, according to the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr Uledi Mussa.
"America
used to supply China with maize, but Beijing suspended the deal after the U.S
started using Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) technology in maize growing"
Mr Uledi explained.
As
things stand, Tanzania expects to sign a protocol with China for phytosanitary requirements for maize exports,
anytime soon.
This means that China will carry out the
pest risk assessment before importing maize from Tanzania.
Local
farmers expect a new trade partnership will benefit them and stabilise the
domestic maize production and price.
“The sooner the deal
gets sealed the better as this will encourage farmers to keep producing
surpluses, which will also be good for the local consumers” said secretary
general for Small-scale Farmers Association (MVIwaTA) in Manyara region, Mr
Lohai Langai.
However, analysts say
that the deal is an opportunity for Tanzania, but also poses immediate threat
to food security in the country, if not well regulated.
Senior Lecturer for
development studies at Tumaini University, Dr Gasper Mpehongwa said that the deal
will encourage entrepreneurs to produce surplus for Chinese market, but the venture
also can drain the entire food in the country, if not regulated.
“China’s growing
demand for maize is driven by population growth as well as economic growth. This
is a great market for our maize, but the state ought to regulate so that
Beijing cannot drain our entire food stock” Dr Mpehongwa explained.
However, Mr Uledi
dispelled the fears that China only purchases food after it satisfied that the
country from which it is importing has sufficient food stocks for its
population.
Tanzania expects to
export maize for prices ranging from $400 to $440 a tonne, implying that the
country will rake in $440 million from a sale, a source privy to the deal said on
condition of anonymity.
China had become a major importer of maize in
recent years as records show that Beijing is the world’s fifth largest importer of maize behind
Japan, the globe’s largest maize importer, followed by Mexico, South Korea and
Egypt, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA estimates that for the latest marketing year, China will
import about 2.9 million tons of maize.
China mainly uses rice
for human consumption and imports mainly yellow maize for animal feed.
Tanzania has ended the year 2014
with an overwhelming 2.5 million tons of surplus grain, bumper harvests that
have, however, left local farmers disconnected from the market.
Records
from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives indicate that
the country ended the year with a commendable 125 per cent food sufficiency.
Indeed in
the past three years, Tanzania has been harvesting more tons of food crops than
the country can consume, with data showing that the country was 118 per cent
food sufficient in 2013.
Christopher Chizza, Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office for Investment and Empowerment said the 2014 crop season saw the country
producing a surplus 1.6 million tons of grain and 800,000 tons of rice, all of
which need reliable market outlets both within and outside the country.
Between
July and August 2014, Tanzania sold 201,800 metric tons of maize that Kenya had
requested to buy in its bid to offset the country’s limited stock of grain due
to poor harvests from inadequate rains there.
