Iringa small scale farmers have asked the government and the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat to eliminate both the traditional and new challenges related to non-tariff barriers (NTBs), impact of climate change and low participation of farmers in the EAC agritrade policy making process.

At a recent event held to review the region’s agri-trade and business regime, the stakeholders found that majority of small farmers weren’t aware of the requirements for undertaking agri-trade and business within the EAC and other regional economic blocs.

The deliberations which were based on experiences of Iringa small-scale farmers pointed out challenges associated with systems which include lack of capacity on the part of small scale farmers to negotiate favorable terms.

As a result, the Iringa Civil Society Organization (ICISO) supported by the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) under the EAC CSO integration project in collaboration with Trademark East Africa (TMA) is working to establish how the small-scale farmers could effectively engage in, and benefit from, the region’s agri-trade and business regime.

A statement issued by the ICISO Executive Secretary, Mr. Raphael Mtitu noted that Iringa SSFs were failing to effectively engage and benefit from the EAC regional development cooperation and integration due to lack of information and facilitation on how to undertake trade and access markets within the bloc.

Source: All Africa

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