The 11th AGREST conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) is taking place today 13th till 15th of November 2019 at St. Gasper Conference Centre in Dodoma. The theme of the conference is THE FOUTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL AND AGRO PROCESSING DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA.
The Guest of Honour, Excellence Hussein Mohamedi Bashe (Mp) Deputy Minister Ministry of Agriculture officiated the conference
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The chairperson Dr. Elibariki Msuya take the opportunity to officially welcome all to the 11th Agricultural Economics Society of Tanzania (AGREST) Scientific Conference and Annual General meeting. And he says this time again (as was case for the last conference) it is being held here in Dodoma, the effective capital of the country after the recent decision of the President to move to Dodoma. I am glad to say that we are happy to be able to hold two consecutive conferences. Last conference attracted 24 scientific paper and about 40 participants. I wish to record especially the initiatives from staff of theCollege of Economics and Business Studies(COEBS) of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), which made this year’s conference possible.
The Chairperson continue to say membership to AGREST is open to all persons having interest in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness.
Speaking at the opening speech hon. Hussein Mohamedi Bashe (Mp) Deputy Minister Ministry of Agriculture says the theme “The 4th Industrial Revolution: Implications for Agricultural and Agro-Processing Development in Africa”. Is very timely to the country’s aspiration of attaining the middle-income economy by 2025 under the current administration led by H.E. President Dr. John Pombe Magufuli.
As we all know, like in many other parts of Africa, agriculture is an imperative sector to Tanzania’s economic growth and development. Since independence, the government has in various ways been providing a special attention in developing the sector. For example, the government is currently implementing a five – year second phase of the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP II). This is the roadmap for the agricultural sector development for the next 5 years.
Hon. Hussein Mohamedi Bashe (Mp) Continue to says that history tells us that the industrial revolution paradigm has gone through four phases hitherto. While the first three phases where driven by steam and water energy, electricity, and ICT respectively, the fourth phase is driven by technological innovations such as automation and chemical manufacturing.
The fourth industrial revolution calls for agricultural transformation from traditional farming to agro-processing, value addition and manufacturing to meet the fast growing global food demand. Such transformation however, should go parallel with the development of other sectors of the economy such as energy, education, infrastructure and trade. The current government is very much into making sure agricultural transformation is interwoven with other sectors of the economy. Apparently, the government is constructing an exemplary hydroelectric power-generating dam on which the agriculture sector will largely leverage. The government is also constructing standard gauge railway that has a direct bearing on agricultural distributive efficiency.
Hon. Hussein Mohamedi Bashe (Mp) Deputy Minister Ministry of Agriculture at the end of the speech says that, I therefore believe you will do justice to science and practice as you critically discuss the submitted papers It is my hope that this conference will come up with relevant recommendations to help the government make informed decisions and polices. I assure you that the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to closely working and valuing your research contribution to the development of the nation’s economy.
