Tanzania reiterates commitment to SADC PF |08 July 2023
The Speaker of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr Tulia Ackson, has said that her country, through its parliament, is committed to the work of the SADC Parliamentary Forum and will continue to be an active member of the Forum.
“The National Assembly of Tanzania is a committed member of SADC-PF since its inception in September 1997 in Blantyre, Malawi. Over the years, our Parliament has been honouring its obligations including hosting the (Plenary) Assemblies of the Forum,” the Speaker said.
She was speaking at the beginning of the 53rd Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC PF. She recalled that the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania last hosted the Plenary Assembly Session of SADC PF in 2013 in Arusha.
She added: “I wish to renew our commitment to the principles, objectives and values for which this Forum was created: respect for human rights, good governance, gender equality, democracy and above all, sustainable development.”
She reiterated the United Republic of Tanzania’s “unwavering support to ensure this Forum becomes a fully-fledged Regional Parliament as envisaged by its founders”.
She justified the selection of Arusha as the venue for the 53rd Plenary Assembly Session.
“The hosting of an Assembly like this in Arusha enables delegates to kill two birds, if not three, with one stone. In the first place, Arusha enjoys excellent weather almost throughout the year, creating an ideal environment for delegates to participate effectively in meetings. More importantly, this town is located mid-way along the great north road from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt,” she said.
She added: “Arusha is primarily a gateway to our northern tourist circuit. From here, one can easily reach the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater, Manyara National Park, Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park as well as to the highest roof in Africa, the Kilimanjaro Mountain, to mention but a few.”
Speaking at the same occasion, the President of the SADC PF who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of Seychelles, Honourable Roger Mancienne, described the theme of the plenary - ‘Modernising Agriculture to Address Food Insecurity and Youth Unemployment in the SADC Region: Role of the Parliaments’ - as appropriate and timely.
He noted that the theme was alive to the needs of the region with respect to agriculture, food insecurity and youth unemployment.
“The recent years have been years of high inflation and since several food products in Africa are imported, the cost of living has escalated for most households, while revenue of citizens has remained the same,” Mancienne said.
He reasoned that high inflation had created misbalances in food availability, “especially in remote locations where the cost of transportation is high, and where merchants no longer find it viable to freight products and food items”.
He called for optimum use of the abundant fertile soil and natural resources in Southern Africa.
“Africa itself is the continent with the highest percentage of unused arable land in the world, thus indicating its innate potential to generate agricultural products and food items,” he said.
The SADC President said he believed that SADC member states had the ability to produce their own and to be food-independent.
“We believe we can subsist to our own needs without relying heavily and dangerously on importations, the costs of which are hefty and unpredictable,” he said.
He called on the region’s lawmakers to invest in young people so they play meaningful roles in the agriculture sector.
He said this was important so that young people “do not naturally turn away to more trendy or fashionable jobs or just to live in the cities and towns rather than in the countryside”.
He challenged the MPs to make living in the countryside and working in agriculture more attractive and profitable.
“We need to be able to demonstrate the gains that can be made with new methods in agriculture, with mechanisation and modernisation but also in the provision of facilities and services to rural areas. I think we have seen too much of the resource drain from the rural sector to urban centres. The question is, can we reverse the trend,” he pondered.
He added: “We also believe that the rising youth have the potential to become professionals who interface with modernised agriculture and are able to generate wealth for their families and the state.”
He said modern agriculture could be a solution to youth unemployment and a way towards increased food security so that famine ends in SADC countries.
“No individual should be losing his or her life to lack of food or malnutrition, especially when the soil is so rich and resources are abundant,” he opined.
He expressed optimism that a symposium preceding the Plenary would inspire MPs to explore ways in which parliaments can abolish famine and make agriculture thrive in the SADC region, “notwithstanding natural disasters which are becoming more and more devastating and gruesome”.
He added: “It is the role of Parliaments to make the region resilient through laws, policies and oversight mechanisms which can protect citizens against the vicissitudes of environmental disasters and their effect on agriculture.”
He called for concerted efforts to address cross-cutting themes of agriculture, energy security, food security, youth unemployment and resilience to climate disasters.
From Moses Magadza in Arusha, Tanzania
