The brief background:
EOA actors in Tanzania, have been working jointly to advocate for policies in favour of Ecological Organic Agriculture in the country. Different projects, programs and initiatives have come on board with the purpose of advocating for policies to promote the EOA sector. The Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I) which is a continental program coordinated by BvAT in 9 countries of Africa including the East African countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda) which was started in response to the African Union Heads of State and Government’s call for the promotion of organic farming in Africa. As a result of this initiative other relevant projects and programs were born and significantly contributed to the achievements that we are celebrating now.
TOAM being a National Organic Movement responsible for coordinating and promoting EOA in the country, is the secretary to the EOA National Steering committee chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture with the advocacy role, has been leading in coordinating and implementing bi annual National Ecological Organic Agriculture Conferences that offers a platform for learning and coming up with key call for action to addresss challenges facing the EOA sector.
The NEOAS was among the call for action for the first National Ecological Organic Agriculture Conference (NEOAC) held in 2019. From there EOA actors had continued to have several advocacy meetings at local, national and regional level with the purpose of advocating for the development of the NEOAS. Following the second NEOAC in 2021, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture by then, Hon. Hussein Bashe, was the Guest of Honor for the conference and gave a strong statement during his speech “the future is organic” . This motivated EOA actors and gave a good mileage towards the development of the EOA strategy whereby the team of expert from the MoA in policy and planning department was selected to collaborate with the representatives from EOA actors.
The process for the development of the NEOAS followed all the necessary procedures as per the government standards for developing policy documents. The process went through a number of steps: Inception meeting, literature review, consultation, compilation, validation and launching. All these steps were very participatory and well coordinated by MoA in collaboration with TOAM as the secretary of the committee.
The Launching event
The National Ecological Organic Agriculture Strategy was officially Launched on 8th of November 2023 by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Hon. David Silinde during the 3rd National Ecological Organic Agriculture Conference held at St. gasper Hotel in Dodoma. The commitment to NEOAS is a call to action for all stakeholders to actively participate in realising its goals from 2023 to 2030. It encapsulates Tanzania’s broader vision of agricultural transformation, emphasising the pivotal role of ecological organic agriculture in achieving sustainable growth, food sovereignty, and poverty alleviation. As Tanzania forges ahead with this green revolution, it not only underscores its dedication to environmental stewardship and sustainable development but also signals its ambition to lead by example in the global organic agriculture movement. Get your soft copy of the NEOAS in the attached link: http://kilimohai.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-Tanzania-National-Ecological-Organic-Agriculture-Strategy.pdf
The roadmap towards the NEOAS implementation
In March 2024, the Implementation Task Force comprised of the Ministry of Agriculture representatives from relevant ministries, SCOs, from EOA actors, development partners with TOAM who is the secretary was formulated. The first ITF meeting was held in April whereby the roadmap towards the implementation of the National Ecological Organic Agriculture Strategy was drawn. The ITF came up with 6 priority strategic objectives out of the 12 using criteria that will enable to set a strong foundation for the smooth implementation of the NEOAS. The selected NEOAS PRIORITY strategic objectives can be accessed in this attached link:https://kilimohai.org/strategic-intervention/
Conclusion
TOAM would like to appreciate the endless efforts and support from the EOA actors in the country who have significantly contributed to the success of this process. The government support through its relevant ministries has also been very supportive to the sector which is very crucial for the growth of the sector. Our development partners, whom through different projects and programs have been directly and indirectly support this process, your contribution is highly recognized. Just to mention few who have supported through TOAM projects Biovision Foundation, Biovision African Trust, GIZ, Organic Denmark, French Development Agency (AFD), and others who have been working with our members in their respective projects.