Ms. Frank had coordinated a 15
member-journalists group which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation through John Hopkins International Reporting Project. The
journalists have been selected from a very competitive application process open
to media organizations throughout the world. The group is in the country from September 29, 2013 to October
9, 2013. The chief mission of their trip is to learn more about Tanzania's agriculture, food
security and nutrition initiatives.
Mr. Kirenga continues his discussion with the US journalists. Also in the photo are Mr. Assery-Nkya (right), Director of the Department of Coordination of Government Business in the Prime Minister's Office, Ms. Tulalumba Mloge (far right -3rd), Executive Assistant at SAGCOT Centre Ltd., and Mr. Frank Mhina (far right - 4th), Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation.
During his discussion, Mr. Kirenga explained that SAGCOT is an inclusive, multi-stakeholder partnership to rapidly
develop the region’s agricultural potential. SAGCOT was initiated at the World
Economic Forum (WEF) Africa summit 2010 with the support of founding partners
including farmers, agri-business, the Government of Tanzania and companies from
across the private sector.
SAGCOT’s objective is to foster
inclusive, commercially successful agribusinesses that will benefit the
region’s small-scale farmers, and in so doing, improve food security, reduce
rural poverty and ensure environmental sustainability. The risk-sharing model
of a public-private partnership (PPP) approach has been demonstrated to be
successful in achieving these goals and SAGCOT marks the first PPP of such a
scale in Tanzania’s agricultural history.
Mr. Assery-Nkya explains about
scaling up nutrition and its coordinated mechanisms such as collaborative
advocacy efforts between the civil society-led Partnership for Nutrition in Tanzania
and the government are underway to raise awareness on the importance of
nutrition and solicit action. He further explained that the the country
has established a High-Level Steering Committee for Nutrition, which is
convened by the Prime Minister’s office and involves representatives from nine
key ministries, development partners, UN agencies, civil society, faith-based
organisations, academia and business. With the support and participation of
this Committee as well as cross-sectoral technical expertise, the country
finalized its National Nutrition Strategy and is now working to complete a
corresponding costed implementation plan.
US journalists listening to
the presentation. Prior to their arrival in Tanzania, the group also had an opportunity to meet with H.E. Liberata Mulamula, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania in the United States of America and Mexico.
The meeting continues.
The International Reporting Project (IRP) based at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC, has been conducting in-depth fact-finding visits to countries around the world since 2000. More than 200 senior journalists have reported on these trips to South Africa, India, Turkey, Nigeria, Indonesia, Uganda, China, Liberia, Brazil, Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Peru and Korea.
Mr. Kirenga listens to the
presentation by the US journalists, who also plan to tour the the KINU
Innovation Space in Dar es Salaam, the iAGRI Project at Sokoine University
in Morogoro, the One Acre Fund in Iringa and the Oikos East
Africa group in Arusha.
The purpose of the trip is
two-fold: it is educational, part of the ongoing programs at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies, and it is also designed to
enable the media representatives to report accurately about food security and
agricultural topics.
All photos by Tagie Daisy Mwakawago
