Tanzania: Local farmers gain from Serengeti Breweries cereal deal
Serengeti Breweries Ltd sourced about 18,000 tonnes of locally-grown cereals including sorghum, barley and maize in 2021 to produce beers and spirits in its plants located in Dar es Salaam, Moshi and Mwanza, The Citizen reported on November 4.
The brewer’s agricultural programme is one of the climate-related initiatives which seek to sustain communities in which the brewer operates or sources the raw materials.
Under the system, the firm said, farmers are provided with technical assistance such as soil testing, free seeds and support to access credit, among others, while the firm also assures to buy the produces after harvesting.
“I have come a long way to expand my farm from around 30 acres to nearly 500 acres in about six years, thanks to the Serengeti programme,” said a barley farmer Mwinyi Makame from Basutu in Hanang district, Manyara region.
“The extension services, modern seeds and other things we get are practically useful,” he said, adding that farming has made him to send kids to school, build modern houses and open other businesses.
Other climate-related initiatives by the brewer include water supply to needy communities and tree planting to ensure environmental sustainability. The agriculture programme has boosted farmers’ incomes, contributing to national economic growth through the consistent remittance of taxes.
In a bid to create agriculture resilience, SBL has also been sponsoring children from low-income families to study agriculture-related courses in four colleges.
The agro-industry scholarship programme dubbed “Kilimo-Viwanda Scholarship Programme,” covers the entire tuition fee for the duration of the studies.
“For years, Kilimo Viwanda has been amongst our pinnacles in creating resilience in the agricultural sector by helping young experts in technical education of crops such as barley, sorghum, and maize, which are used for beer making,” said the SBL’s managing director Mark Ocitti (pictured). “We are proud that the programme has been successful in helping over 200 students. Some of them have joined us as interns in our brewery in Dar es Salaam and others will be joining us elsewhere in later days. We want to ensure our programme has a long-lasting impact on these young farmers through employment opportunities,” he added. The four colleges benefiting from the scholarship programme include Kaole Wazazi College of Agriculture in Bagamoyo; Kilacha Agriculture Institute in Moshi; Igabiro Institute of Agriculture in Bukoba, and St. Maria Goretti Agriculture Training Institute in Iringa.
Recently, SBL announced plans to increase sourcing of cereals for its beer production. SBL corporate relations director John Wanyancha, said the beer maker intends to expand its sourcing of cereals to other parts of the country beyond Manyara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Dodoma, Singida, Shinyanga, Mara and Mwanza regions where the company has been buying grains from farmers since 2013.
“Our increasing intake of grains from local farmers is intended to meet the expanded capacities our three breweries located in Moshi, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam,” Mr Wanyancha said, adding that the firm has spent around Sh165 billion in the past three years on expanding operations of its breweries across the country.
04 November, 2022
