ECONOMIC stakeholders have celebrated the New Year, 2023 while calling nationwide concerted effort to withstand the global emerging inflation that increases citizens' living cost as the price in key commodities keep on rising.
They said the soaring inflation was expected to happen within the country as since 2019 to 2022 the global developed and developing countries including China, USA, Russia and Tanzania in particular were hit by COVID-19 that slowed economic production suppressed the international goods supply chain causing worldwide shortage in some keys goods including food such as rice, maize, wheat flour, sugar and sunflower.
Moreover in February last year the Russia Ukraine war which is still on progress added salt to the wound as it broke the global connected economies following Russia sanctions including banned exportations under the cause of invasions, on the other side Ukraine which is one of the global largest exporter of wheat and sunflower its productions declined to nearly zero.
Economic expert , Gilbert Mwabeza, the assistant lecturer of Economics based in Marian University College Constituency of Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) based in Pwani Region speaking to the Daily News suggested creating solutions for mitigating inflation should be the national focus in 2023.
He mentioned government intensive investment on irrigational agricultural productions as the solutions to decreased agricultural yields due to unpredictable rainfall.
"Provided the country has enough fertile land farmers can upgrade their production system by relying on an irrigation system rather than rainfall which in some seasons including this season rainfall comes at delay in many regions"Mr. Mwabeza noted.
To address the inflation caused by global external forces such as the Russia-Ukraine War "imported inflations".
Mr Mwabeza suggested increased individual agricultural productions in 2023 requesting the government and the private partners to look at the best solution to modernize the country farming so that farmers can produce enough foods including wheat which in most cases is imported.
Furthermore, Mr. Mwabeza urged for the government to control illegal exportation of food including maize and rice done by some traders that create food scarcity within the country resulting in skyrocketing food prices.
Nyehunge Company Limited's Marketing Officer, Mr. Lucas Domnick, of the retailing company in vegetable oil based in Mwanza told the Daily News that as the result of increase in oil price per litre to 7,500/- as the 2023 starts compared to 2022 New Year celebration where by one litre was sold at 5,500/- , the hike in price causes decreased in customers and sales as well as business circulation at large.
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"Its hope that as the 2023 starts the government in collaboration with vegetable oil producing industries they will seat together to come with minimal price to retailer so that even the final consumers, majority citizens can buy at affordable price "he said.
The 2023 New Year Celebration in Mwanza witnessed a surge in food prices, especially favorable meals of celebration namely rice which was sold at 3200/- per kilo the situations that caused some citizens to enter into the New Year unhappily, but hoping for a new wind as the New Year starts.
Milongo Market Chairman, Mr. Alex Mbilingi urged the government on 2023 to stress on funding small business specifically those venturing in food trading including maize and rice so that they can compete on stiff world competitive economy distracted by the global inflation that call for critical government intervention to increase country economic production surviving the global economic shocks.
