The Tanzanian government said this week that South Africa’s decision to grant market access to avocados grown by Tanzanian farmers, was a critical step in bolstering the economy. It also stated that it would continue to take steps to guarantee that Tanzanian farmers and the country had access to greater international markets on a long-term basis.
The government said that it would continue to take steps to guarantee that Tanzanian farmers and the country had access to greater international markets on a long-term basis. Hussein Bashe, the deputy minister of agriculture, made the statement in response to the National Plant Protection Organisation of South Africa’s (NPPOSA) decision to open its market to Tanzanian avocados after a ten-year-long conversation.
“On 9 November 2021, the National Plant Protection Organisation of Tanzania (NPPOT) provided a pre-recorded video presentation to the NPPOSA to verify and pre-test pest risk management practices in order to allow authorisation of avocados from Tanzania to South Africa,” reads the letter to Tanzanian authorities, according to The Citizen.
“The NPPOSA wishes to inform Tanzania’s NPPO that following the presentation of a pre-recorded video inspection and subsequent deliberation during the virtual verification process, the market access for importation of avocado fresh fruit from Tanzania to South Africa has been granted.”
Progress after earlier encounter
In March 2021, a consignment of avocados produced by Tanzania’s small-scale farmers was confiscated at the Beitbridge border post. According to authorities, the avocado cargo via Tanzanian mega-farmer Rob Clowes was halted at the Zimbabwe-South Africa border due to a lack of phytosanitary paperwork, reported Food For Mzansi.
Clowes, on the other hand, felt it is part of a coordinated effort by the South African department of agriculture, land reform and rural development (DALRRD) to safeguard Mzansi’s avocado growers.
In response to the exporter’s claims, the South African Avocado Growers’ Association (SAAGA) asserted that a deal for the importation of avocados from Tanzania had not yet been finalised.
