(Ecofin Agency) - Tanzania’s government plans to boost cotton shipment revenues to $150 million by 2020, up from the current $30 million. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mary Mwanjelwa.

According to information relayed by Xinhua, the government have set since 2007, a battery of measures as to bring the cotton output to 600,000 tons. Mwanjelwa said that during the 2018 campaign, growers will use seeds from the UKM08 improved variety developed by Ukiriguru Research Institute.

In this country, cotton is agriculture’s second largest source of foreign exchange after coffee. The crop is grown in more than 20 regions and sustains about 40% of the population, both directly and indirectly. Tanzania exports almost 70% of cotton output mainly to Indonesia and Thailand.

Espoir Olodo