JV Biotech Enterprises, which falls under the Directorate of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the University of Dar es Salaam, is now building capacity to local cassava farmers and entrepreneurs to utilize the plentiful opportunities from the crop.
The company has started training the farmers and other stakeholders this week at the UDSM campus whereby at least 20 participants from regions of Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Dodoma and Coast region benefited.
Chief Executive Officer Victor Kabegu told The Daily News that next year, they would extend the training programme to involve participants from other regions. He said they aimed to assist farmers to invest on profitable cassava cultivation and ensure reliable market internally and externally. "Tanzania has suitable land for growing cassava but people don't follow proper procedures of cultivating the crop, something which leads to low productivity. We therefore found it necessary to educate them.”
After training the farmers and entrepreneurs, the company was upbeat that they may be interested to invest in cassava processing industries in the future in supporting government's initiative towards industrialisation.
The company's Executive Director Jacob Tito said they target to educate at least 20 farmers every month, for a total of over 240 in a year. "We need to transform cassava from food to a commercial crop because it has many opportunities from its roots, shoots and leaves," he explained.
