British company plans training for EA's fish farmers

UK-based Farm Africa intends to educate fish farmers in East African countries boost their production through training in good management practices.
The project aims at addressing challenges in fish farming through classroom sessions and subsequent practicals on-farm lessons.
Arnoud Meijberg, head of the initiative at UK-based Farm Africa, says that due to rapid population growth, natural water bodies can no longer produce sufficient fish to satisfy the growing market demand.

“It will help with food security and generate income for farmers if they do it in the right way,” he said during an interview with SciDev.Net early this month
Through the programme, smallholder farmers learn how to construct good fish ponds, identify quality fingerlings for stocking, use quality feeds for enhanced production, and price their farm produce.
“If farmers have good fingerlings but substandard feeds and poor business skills, then they are bound to fail in aquaculture production and make losses,” Meijberg explains.
The four-year programme funded by Farm Africa began in 2016 and aims to help at least 1,100 fish farmers commercialise.
It has already trained more than 1,000 fish farmers in Kenya while reaching about 8,000 indirectly through media campaigns, agricultural trade fairs and aquaculture symposiums.
Plans are under way to expand the initiative to other East African countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda.
“I now know the right quantities and types of feed to give my fish,” says David Omuruli, who has six fish ponds and has benefitted from the training sessions. “I’ve also become good at record keeping which enables me to track all my expenses and avoid unnecessary wastage.”
He is now imparting the knowledge to other farmers. Samuel Kariuki, director of the Centre for Microbiology Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, says that unhygienic practices and crowded conditions in fishponds usually contribute to the misuse of antibiotics for disease prevention and growth promotion in aquaculture.

TBL hit hard by viroba ban, to retrench workers

THE fall-out from last month’s ban on sachet-packed liquor known as ‘viroba’ has continued with Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) yesterday disclosing plans to retrench a sizeable chunk of workers at its subsidiary Tanzania Distilleries Limited (TDL) company.
Reliable sources within TBL, the country’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages, confirmed to The Guardian that a key reason for the retrenchments is the ‘viroba’ ban which has left TDL liquor-packaging machines lying idle and their operators virtually out of work.
TDL was the sole manufacturer of acceptable sachet-packed liquor which, along with a good number of ‘fake’ brands whose sources remain dubious, have all been roped into the blanket ban which took effect from March 1.

According to a joint TBL-TDL statement issued yesterday, the retrenchment exercise will affect at least 50 employees across the entire group.
“After considering all options available, both long term and short term to reduce the impact and extent of our (internal) restructuring, ultimately retrenchment is one of the viable options for the sustainability of (our) business,” reads part of the statement.
The exercise is said to have started on Monday this week (March 27). Efforts to contact TBL head of corporate communications Georgia Mutaghywa for further clarification proved futile as her phone went unanswered for the better part of yesterday.
Apart from TDL, a good number of licensed private ‘viroba’ factories have been forced to close down as a result of the ban on locally-produced or imported alcohol in sachets, which is intended to complement a government push for a switch from hard liquor sachet packaging to bottling technology.
Businesses depending on ‘viroba’ and their customers also appear to have been caught between a rock and a hard place by the ban, which was also aimed at enabling the government to curb tax evasion.
It is estimated that about 600 billion/- is lost through tax evasion due to production and packaging of the hard liquor in plastic sachets. The sachets have also been blamed for increased intake of alcohol even among school-going minors.
The government is currently drafting regulations on the packaging of hard liquor requiring producers, among others, to pack the drinks in returnable bottles of not less than 250 milligrams.

Dar tourist arrivals grow to just over 1 million in 2016

TANZANIA’s tourist arrivals grew by 10.42 per cent to 1,020,816 between January and October last year, according to the latest United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) barometer. 
At global level, tourist arrivals grew by 3.9 per cent to reach more than a billion last year.
The UNWTO barometer shows that international arrivals from January to December last year reached 1.23 billion, 46 million more compared to 2015 figures. 
In Kenya, international tourist arrivals increased by 16.7 per cent to 877,602 compared to the previous year.
The report said that last year marked the seventh consecutive year of sustained growth following the 2009 global economic crisis. 
“Tourism has shown extraordinary strength and resilience in recent years despite many challenges, particularly those related to safety and security,’’ UNWTO secretary general Taleb Rifai said in a report.
“Yet international travel continues to grow strongly and contribute to job creation and the well-being of communities around the world,” Rifai added.
In Europe, international arrivals reached 620 million last year — 12 million more than in 2015 — while in the Americas arrivals rose by four per cent to 201 million, eight million more visitors compared to 2015.
In Africa, the arrivals jumped by eight per cent to 58 million tourists, while Asia and the Pacific had 301 million. 
The Middle East received 54 million global arrivals, a decrease of four per cent compared to 2015. UNWTO projects international arrivals worldwide to grow at 3 to 4 per cent this year.
According to statistics from the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), arrivals through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport jumped by 16.2 per cent to 782,013 last year, compared to 672,789 visitors in 2015. 
At Moi International Airport, arrivals grew by 22.2 per cent to 92,872 compared with 75,983 visitors in 2015. 
On the other hand, arrivals by cruise ships at Mombasa port declined by 17.7 per cent to 2,717, compared with 3,302 visitors in 2015.
In terms of share of arrivals during the period, the US emerged as Kenya’s top source tourists after overtaking the UK which for years has been the country’s leading market.

JPM receives six new diplomats

PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday received diplomatic credentials from six different resident ambassadors who will represent their countries in Tanzania
The ambassadors who presented their credentials at the State House in Dar es Salaam include Mohamed Ben Mansour Al Malek from the United Arab Emirates, Abdelilah Benryane of Morroco, Benson Keith Chali of Zambia, Lucas Domingo Hernandez Polledo of the Republic of Cuba, Mousa Farhang of Iran and Gervais Abayeho from Burundi.
President Magufuli welcomed the new ambassadors, assuring them of close cooperation and that Tanzania would continue to enhance economic cooperation with their countries for the benefit of all.
“I am aware that Saudi Arabia implements a number of construction projects in Tanzania. I would like to assure you that we will continue implementing such projects together,” he told Ambassador Mohamed Ben Mansour Al Malek.
“I am expecting Cubans to construct factories in Tanzania as we plan to stop importing medicines. The government spends a huge chunk of our foreign currency importing medicines from abroad,” The President told Ambassador Lucas Domingo Hernandez Polledo from Cuba.
The Ambassador of Morocco in the country, Abdelilah Benryane promised President Magufuli that his country would, apart from constructing a Mosque in Dodoma, also implement other projects.
Speaking to Zambian Ambassador, Benson Keith Chali the President said that his presence will speed up the process for improvement of the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) in order to enhance productivity.
President Magufuli assured the Ambassador of Burundi, Gervais Abayeho that Tanzania would continue to be a good friend to their country.
He said the bilateral relationship between the two countries would be cemented as Tanzania continues to be part of the conflict resolution committee through former President, Benjamin Mkapa.
The Ambassadors congratulated President Magufuli for his austerity measures in shaping the country’s economy, fight corruption, abuse of office and ensuring ethics amongst public servants.

Discovery of natural gas lowers power production,consumer costs

THE discovery of natural gas in the country has led to a decline of electricity prices by 33.26 per cent since 2014 to 2016, Deputy Minister of Energy and Minerals Dr Medard Kalemani has revealed. 
Dr Kalemani made the remarks yesterday in Parliament in Dodoma when responding to a question from Special Seat MP Maida Hamad Abdallah who wanted to know the benefits obtained from the discovery natural gas in the country.
“The biggest advantage which the country has gained from the discovery and use of natural gas in electricity production is that it has made the production cheaper compared to fuel. 
Electricity production using natural gas increased from 2,714.25 million units in 2014 to 4196.4 million units in 2016, an increase of 54.61 per cent,” explained Dr Kalemani.
The deputy minister explained further that the discovery of natural gas has seen electricity production cost going down from an average of 188.56/- per unit in 2014 to an average of 125.85/- per unit in 2016.
Detailing more on the benefits gained from the use of natural gas, Energy and Minerals Minister Prof Sospeter Muhongo said some households in Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam Region , including the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) have seen their monthly spending on natural gas for cooking not exceeding 25,000/- 
According to him, until now a total of 37 industries are using energy derived from natural gas, which is cost-effective compared with the cost of other sources of energy.
In addition, he said that his ministry has received funding of USD150 million(over Sh330 billion) from African Development Bank (AfDB) for supplying the gas in regions of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Lindi.
Prof Muhongo said that soon after the supply commences, pipes will be laid in Kinyerezi suburb ready to supply the gas in the city and other regions such as Morogoro, Mbeya and Iringa.
He assured the public that the gas which is being used now is more safe and do not explode like the previous ones.
TPDC began to study to explore oil and natural gas in early 1950, involving research in areas of the deep sea, lakes and land. Natural gas discovered in the deep sea is 47.08TCF and in land are 10.17 TCF. The total initial gas in place now stands at 57.25 TCF.

Tulia: The legislators also called for a proper official research to find out the real facts about the famous

The legislators also called for a proper official research to find out the real facts about the famous 1905-1907 rebellion and whether it was indeed led by Chief Kinjekitile Ngwale, as has been frequently reported.

They said it was important to start the legal proceedings against German authorities as soon as possible in order to ensure that Tanzania’s former colonial master pays befitting compensation like what happened with similar rebellion wars in other parts of Africa.

Inter Burundi Dialogue scheduled for next week

FORMER President Benjamin William Mkapa, in his capacity as the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue has announced the commencement of the formal dialogue after completion of the consultative talks. 
The session is schedule for 16th – 18th February 2017, at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC). 
The convening of the session follows rigorous consultations the Facilitator made with various stakeholders within and outside Burundi, after which he identified an Eight-point Agenda raised by all stakeholders and agreed to be the main sticking points which he reported to the Summit in September 2016.
This Eight-point Agenda, which will form the thrust of the dialogue and subsequent negations, in no particular order of importance, includes: Security and commitment to end all forms of violence; Commitment to the Rule of Law and an end to impunity; Status of the implementation of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement; Strengthening of Democratic Culture and Opening up of Political Space; Social and Humanitarian Issues.
Others are, Implementation of the EAC Summit Decision of July 6th, 2015 on the Formation of the Government of National Unity; Impact of the Crisis on the Economy; and the Relationship between Burundi, its Neighbours and other International Partners.
In this initial phase of the dialogue which is by and large a political process, the Facilitator will invite some of the political parties and important political actors to whom he will introduce the unpacked Eight-point Agenda to determine areas of convergence and divergence.
Other stakeholders like the civil society organisations, religious groups, as well as women and youth will be invited in later sessions for a similar purpose.
It is the expectation of the Facilitator that, in the initial dialogue, inputs from participant will draw up an outline of the would-be agreement to be continuously refined until when it fully agreed upon by all stakeholders and can be signed as a final agreement hopefully in June, 2017 as he envisaged.