Cash-starved farms in Tanzania to get a boost

Dar es Salaam - Tanzania will invest 800bn shillings ($380m) over the next eight years in a new state-run agriculture bank to boost growth in the sector, which has long been stifled by low productivity and a lack of financing.

President Jakaya Kikwete launched the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) on Friday after the government provided 60bn shillings in seed capital for its establishment.

"Around 75 percent of Tanzanians depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and the sector contributes to 25 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts for 34% of the country's export earnings," Kikwete said in a statement.

The bank will help to modernise the country's agriculture sector and boost productivity by providing short, medium and long-term financing, the government said.

It will target the production of maize, rice, sugarcane, oilseeds, meat, dairy and poultry, as well as horticulture, fish farming and beekeeping, the government said.