The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Programme is broadly identified as a public-private partnership explicitly designed to achieve higher rates of income growth and job creation through the development of competitive agribusiness value chains across the Southern Corridor. The Programme intends to concentrate investments within the rail and road corridor stretching from Dar es Salaam in the east through Morogoro, Iringa, and Mbeya, and west to Sumbawanga. Over the next 20 years, the programme aims to bring 350,000 ha of farmland into commercial production for regional and international markets, to increase annual farming revenues by US$1.2 billion, and to lift more than 2 million people (roughly 450,000 farm households) out of poverty.
The Government of Tanzania (GoT) has requested support from the International Development Agency (IDA), part of the World Bank to assist in implementation of the SAGCOT concept. The proposed World Bank support (“the Project”) will be in the form of a Specific Investment Loan (SIL).
The Project comprises three components:
- SAGCOT Catalytic Fund (approximately US$ 45 million),
- Strengthening Agribusiness Support Institutions (approximately US$ 13 million),
- Project Implementation Support (~ US$2 million).
The overarching objective of the Strategic Regional Environmental and Social Assessment (SRESA) of SAGCOT is to improve the investment decisions of all the different stakeholders by identifying environmental and social issues (both opportunities and constraints) and mainstreaming them into the development planning process. A draft final Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) of SAGGOT is attached below as it was prepared by the government in partnership with Environmental Resources Management Ltd team.
SAGCOT Environmental and Social Management Framework.pdf
Version: 1
The corridor issue is very good as it first concentrates on high productive and rainy areas like Southern Regions in Tanzania. I real support the Government for coming up with the SAGCOT Plan however there are important areas that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement the plan. among these issues is Land Conflicts. Lindi one of Region within SAGCOT plan is facing many problems of land which create Conflicts between investors and small holder farmers who are actually the primary target group of SAGCOT PLAN.The government must think about it
Small holder farmers are being used as a ploy by the government and corporates to access arable and productive land, why not concentrating on infrastructure development like in areas such as Kilombero in Morogoro to facilitate small holder farmers to access markets. Talking of land conflicts, most areas under SAGCOT are facing different types of land related conflicts, often when the government talk about transformation the reference is not about transforming small scale holder farmers but rather it is about lucrative deals for investors both local and foreign ones at the expense of the small scale holder farmers and other groups such as pastoralists. I think the government should be clear on how it is going to embark into this ambitious project without displacing the current users of land.
Absolutely, markets can be used as tools to alleviate poverty in a sustainable
manner since it is currently very expensive and tedious in transporting agricultural
crops to markets in cities and other areas. Markets are
increasingly seen as a good instrument for poverty reduction and sustainable
development. Nonetheless,
the present markets which are difficult to access are even not bankable enough
to promote and motivate small holder farmers. Over 80% of these small holder
farmers are women who are most vulnerable as a result of such inaccessible
markets. Inclusive development opportunities
ought to be identified using market-economic domain of development
approaches. Conversely, pro-poor & inclusive value chain development and market access for sustainable development can revamp agricultural industry in Tanzania.
Pingback: Draft SAGCOT Greenprint: A “Green Growth” Investment Blueprint « Let's talk land Tanzania