Tanzania; If you steal farms you will face food scarcity

 

 

Over 113,200 Moshi district residents face food scarcity

By Charles Lyimo -7th January 2012

 

A total of 113,226 Moshi district residents in Kilimanjaro region are in need of food relief and 60,411 of them are in critical condition. This was said by district agricultural and food assistance officer Fridolin Mpanda recently when presenting a district food report at a full council meeting also attended by village and extension officers recently.

He urged the residents to use the remaining food stock sparingly.

He said most of the affected residents lived in lowlands where climatic conditions were unfavourable.

He urged farmers to grow drought resistant crops, adding that extension officers had already provided them with food preserving skills and that more education would be given to more residents.

“We are facing food scarcity, so spend the remaining food stock sparingly and cultivate drought resistant crops during this agricultural season,” he said.

Mpanda said they had implemented different strategies to reduce the problem and planned to cultivate 115,800 hectors of food and cash crops.

He noted that the district expected to harvest 683,870 tonnes in the coming harvest season.

According to him, Moshi district will have to request from the central government 141,634 tonnes of relief food to be distributed to needy residents.