DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA's move to transform agriculture has received yet another boost, with the launch of the Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO) in the country.
The ATO is a Delivery Unit mandated to coordinate the delivery of the sector's Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS)
It will enable and coordinate effective implementation and tracking of the Agricultural Masterplan, support in capacity building (including digital capabilities and tools) and deploy monitoring and evaluation tool.
The Masterplan will comprise of strategic objectives, selection and design of key flagships and a detailed national agricultural investment plan to support the transformation and will be developed and elaborated based on a detailed review of existing and past programmes, fact-based diagnostics and stakeholder engagement.
"There is no transformation without participation. So when you look at the structure of the ATO, how it has been structured, even the transformation master plan, and how is going to be done, it involves key stakeholders including the development partners, farmers, the government officials and the like.We are looking forward to having a strong partnership, no success will happen without engagement of stakeholders," stated Mr Hussein Bashe, Minister for Agriculture.
He made statement on Tuesday evening at the launching event organised jointly by Ministry of Agriculture and the African Agricultural Transformation Initiative (AATI)
He explained that the ATO is a result of President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan's trip to Dakar upon which she introduced what is called the Presidential agricultural Advisory Council, which is the platform to advise her on the issue of agriculture development.
Therefore, the ATO, which engages with ministries of agriculture and that of Livestock and Fisheries, to design a master plan for implementation.
"So its major task would be to look at the implementation and provide a report to the ministers and the presidential advisory council.This office is an independent watchdog to look at our ministries if they implement their duties as per the guidelines set to meet goals," he said.
On his part, Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Mr Abdallah Ulega, said the ATO is like a mirror to help them look at themselves in terms of perfomance.
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"It will help us build trust in development partners who financially contribute to these sectors.. Basically, we are supposed to work with ATO closely," he vowed.
He added: "This will bring openness and accountability in spending of public funds. This is a good way of engagement and will bring positive impact," he said.
At the launching event, participants reflected on the status of the agricultural sector and in which ways the newly
developed ATO will advance the efforts of the Government.
The event also raised awareness about Tanzania's efforts to accelerate the transformation of its economy through the
strengthening of its institutions and engagements with the private sector as well as knowledge sharing
and learning about the challenges, opportunities and the way forward for agricultural transformation.
