10 Jun

Kizimba Business Model

On 16th March 2021 SUGECO was officially launched Kizimba Business Model (KBM)."An Entrepreneurial Approach for Agriculture Development in Tanzania" The launching event graced  by the presence of Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Prof. Adolf Mkenda as the guest of honor.

During the launching event, Hon. Prof Mkenda explained how the Approach will help farmers increase productivity, help them to overcome poverty and also to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Learn more

"Agriculture contributes 28 percent to GDP which is equivalent to one third while more than three-thirds of the national workforce is engaged in agriculture and this clearly shows that the contribution of agriculture is very small compared to the number of people engaged in agriculture" said Prof Mkenda.

Prof Mkenda emphasized that increasing productivity in agriculture will also help farmers to compete in domestic and foreign markets by considering various factors including better seeds, modern agricultural technologies, fertilizers and extension services.

"Kizimba Business Model is the best way to help farmers get all necessary infrastructure and services in agriculture in one place easily and thus helping them to increase productivity. So the Government and Ministry applaud this Approach and we need it to be implemented soon so that we can see, learn and apply in other parts of the country" Said Prof. Mkenda

The event brought different  participants, from academia, private sector (Banks), Industries/Processing Firms, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), (engaging in farming) International Organizations (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Program (WFP) etc.

Government representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agencies responsible for Science, Technology, Industry, Trade and Investment, Prime Minister’s office responsible for Youth, Labor, Employment and people with Disabilities, TAMISEMI etc.

In 2019, SUGECO was requested by the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Labor, Youth, Employment and People with Disabilities to conduct a survey to assess the demand for the fruits supply to Juice processing factories located in Costal region.

In doing this, SUGECO visited processing firms (Sayona & Bkharesa juice processing factories). In this assessment SUGECO was also requested to come up with the model that will help to connect youth farmers and processing firms (Demand & supply Model). Likewise in January – March 2020, SUGECO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture participated in the youth zone meeting. One of the issues discussed was how to engage youth in agriculture and connect them to the processing firms.

The assessment of the demand of fruits for juice processing firms and the idea of connecting youth in agriculture, SUGECO as a champion in supporting youth in agriculture and agribusiness came up with An Entrepreneurial Approach for Agriculture Development in Tanzania named Kizimba Business Model (KBM). KBM aims at addressing the needs of youth as well as to support the current agenda of the 5th Government on industrialization and implementation of the National Strategy for Youth Involvement in Agriculture (NSYIA). As a result, Ministry of Agriculture perfected the idea by instructing adoption of the Kizimba Business Model (KBM). The Ministry of Agriculture ordered its technical team to collaborate with SUGECO to make the idea practical.