Besides rising demand for food due to the vagaries of the weather, 70 percent of the region’s industries are agro-based.
This was emphasized last week during a high-level forum of business leaders and policymakers in the region held virtually.
The partner states were urged to review their agricultural development strategies in order to attract more investments.
The East African Business Council (EABC) chief executive officer, John Kalisa, said the sector saved the region from recession during the height of Covid-19.
The virtual meeting was held within the framework of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) support for the EAC.
The agricultural sector in the EAC accounts for between 25 and 40 percent of the region’s GDP and employs over 80 percent of the population. However, Mr Kalisa said the sector was not attracting much investment to match its critical role in the economy and food security. The EAC countries were also urged to ensure their agricultural development programmes were compliant with CAADP principles and commitments.
In particular, the EAC partner states should enhance investment financing in agriculture “to boost food production, supply, and trade.”
This, the EABC boss argued, would in turn boost intra-regional trade in agricultural commodities and services. Mr Darbe Nouala, a senior official of the African Union (AU), urged the EAC partner states to invest more in climate resilience.
Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), appealed to the EAC bloc to boost inter-continental investment “and mutual accountability.”
Jean-Baptiste Havugimana, the EAC secretariat’s director of productive services, said the EAC was committed to agricultural transformation plants.
However, he told the meeting that there were still some challenges that have impeded efforts to sustain stable food production systems.
Other speakers said that despite pockets of success, the EA’s agribusiness sector has hardly reached its full potential.
In some places, production is still struggling to meet rising local and export demand or to compete efficiently in a global marketplace.
Share this news
This Year’s Most Read News Stories
Zanzibar liquor importers face fresh hurdle despite court order
The liquor shortage in Zanzibar is far from over, even after a court order granted relief to the three importers.Continue Reading
Mwinyi lashes out at Zanzibar Airport, Port inefficiency claims
Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi has lashed out at the Opposition ACT Wazalendo, saying that the claims it raised about inefficiency in three areas within his Government were only meant to mislead the publicContinue Reading
Tanzania Declares End of Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
Tanzania today declared the end of Marburg virus disease outbreak after recording no new cases over 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case on 28 January 2025.
The outbreak, in which two confirmed and eight probable cases were recorded (all deceased), was the second the country has experienced. Both this outbreak, which was declared on 20 January 2025, and the one in 2023 occurred in the north-eastern Kagera region.
In response to the latest outbreak, Tanzania’s health authorities set up coordination and response systems, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, at the national and regional levels and reinforced control measures to swiftly detect cases, enhance clinical care, infection prevention as well as strengthen collaboration with communities to raise awareness and help curb further spread of the virus.
Growing expertise in public health emergency response in the African region has been crucial in mounting effective outbreak control measures. Drawing on experience from the response to the 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak, WHO worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to rapidly scale up key measures such as disease surveillance and trained more than 1000 frontline health workers in contact tracing, clinical care and public health risk communication. The Organization also delivered over five tonnes of essential medical supplies and equipment.
“The dedication of frontline health workers and the efforts of the national authorities and our partners have paid off,” said Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, WHO Representative in Tanzania. “While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant to respond swiftly if any cases are detected and are supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak.”
Building on the momentum during the acute phase of the outbreak response, measures have been put in place to reinforce the capacity of local health facilities to respond to potential future outbreaks. WHO and partners are procuring additional laboratory supplies and other equipment for disease detection and surveillance and other critical services.
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Source: allafrica.com
