Tanzania is the second largest rice producer in sub-Saharan Africa and it employes over 70 per cent of the workforce and accounts for about 30 per cent of the national GDP.
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According to Ibrahim Hashim of the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI. The Xoo bacterium burrows into the leaves, attacks the plant and dries it out. Consequently, the rice grain does not fill up, which affects the yield.
Hashim explained the problem, “the epidemic is spreading and is affecting a large proportion of fields: "In all irrigated areas, half of the fields are affected”.
According to several Tanzanian experts, a fifth of the production is affected.
These bacterial pests have been observed in Morogoro, the main rice growing region, but also in the Muenza and Arusha regions. Scientists have even detected the disease near Mombasa in Kenya. Various tests and research on high-yield seeds are being carried out.
The rice sector in Tanzania employs over 70 per cent of the workforce and accounts for about 30 per cent of the national GDP.
But as the population is increasing, being 54 million currently, and expected to double by 2050, challenges are likely to arise.
There are already worries that climate change is deepening the vulnerability of agriculture to disasters.
Realising this, the government and stakeholders have been striving to improve agriculture.
Recently, the second phase of the Agricultural Sector Development Programme, in which research and development have been prioritised, was launched.
The challenge is to supply healthy seeds to these regions, because my fear is that if farmers continue to receive seeds that carry the bacteria, the problem will persist for a long time."
The authorities informed that the origin of this epidemic is being investigated. The seeds themselves could carry the bacteria, which would explain the spread over such great distances.
Tanzania is the second largest rice producer in sub-Saharan Africa. It imports a small amount from Pakistan, and exports some rice, mainly to East Africa. The country is practically self-sufficient, but with a 20% drop in the harvest, "it could find itself in a difficult situation, and end up depending on the foreign market," according to an economist specializing in the rice sector.