Same starts to process ginger

Residents of Mamba Miamba Ward in Same District are optimistic about increased money circulation at their area following the launch of the newly built ginger factory early this week.

 

President Jakaya Kikwete inaugurated the Mamba Ginger Growers Rural Cooperative Society owned factory that will see all ginger produced in the area, about 70 per cent of the country’s ginger production, bought by the cooperative at about 2,500/-  up  from the previous prices of between 200/- and 500/- per kilogramme.

Processed ginger will be sold at 6,000/- per a 250-gramme bottle and other smaller and bigger packages are also set to be introduced.

The president praised the area MP Anne Killango Malecela for her dedication towards the realization of the project, saying the ginger factory will help alleviate poverty through boosting the income of ginger farmers in the area.

“We are now sure of taking our children to school and also improving our living standards,” said Joyce Kiario, one of the farmers and cooperative members. 

“We had kept our harvest in the stores because we had nowhere to take it since the prices were too low but now that we have a factory that will buy it at a good price we are sure of markets so we will work hard to produce more,” said Justin Singo who is also from the cooperative.

Ms Killango Malecela thanked her constituents, saying the project would not have been realized had it not been for their commitment. 

She asked the government to provide a police station in the village as they expected a huge circulation of money because of the factory operations, the request that was honoured immediately.

The Chairman of the society, Mr Elisafi Kiariro said that currently the society boasts of 439 active members, up from only 100 members in 2008. 

He said that with the factory now in full operation, in the 2011/2012 season, farmers are expecting to harvest 120 tonnes of ginger, which is equivalent to 120,000 kilogrammes.

The chairman said that the factory has the capacity to process over 2,000 tonnes annually, but said that the capacity can increase with the availability of more working capital, and it will also boost employment opportunity for the local community, with over 300 job opportunities available.

The Same District Executive Director, Joseph Mkude said the municipality is also set to benefit from the factory through revenue collection, saying that over 1.8 billion/- has been set aside to boost the road infrastructure which will boost production.

Source: The Daily News,http://www.dailynews.co.tz, in Same

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.