By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Tanzania is envisioning the construction of giant grain storage facilities and distribution centres in Mombasa to assist in selling surplus food crops from the country.
The proposed large Silos will facilitate the trading of surplus food crops between Kenya and Tanzania. The investment will improve bilateral trade between the two countries, which stood at US$905.5 million from January to November 2021.
Tanzania is ambitious about the grain storage facilities as the country is already operating established two-grain storage spaces in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Through the Mombasa grain centre, Tanzania will be supplying agricultural products directly to Kenya. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to harmonize trade barriers between the two countries resulting in a better trading environment.
The grain storage facility will be used by both the government and the private sector.
The Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, revealed on his Twitter page the intention of Tanzania setting up a grain store in Kenya’s coastal city island of Mombasa. Bashe added that the ministry would not directly involve itself in selling the grain exports but would act as an initiator.
“We have opened grain centres in Juba, South Sudan, and Lubumbashi in the DRC and already delivered 800 tonnes of grains to the two centres, in efforts to enable Tanzanian farmers and traders to get good markets for their products,” Bashe posted.