| By Arusha Times Correspondent Hai district will soon embark on reviving coffee farming which has drastically dropped because some farmers found it not paying back due to high production costs and low produce prices. The district commissioner Mr. Novatus Makunga said coffee production in the district dropped to only 1,069.9 tonnes during 2010/2011 compared to 2,568 in 2007/2008. Production for 2008/2009 was 2,106 tonnes but plummeted to 1,150. tonnes in 2009/2010. "From now on we must revive cultivation of the crop", he emphasized when he addressed the District Consultative Committee (DCC),noting that coffee has been a leading cash crop for small holder farmers in the area for many years in the past. Another strategy to improve agriculture is through promoting irrigation farming. He said half of the arable land totaling 46,506 hectares are suitable for irrigation but only 17,010 ha are currently under irrigation farming. Areas which are suitable for irrigation farming include Machame Kusini, Weruweru, Masama and Rundugai wards, the DC explained, noting that greater emphasis will be placed in areas with high potential. On environmental conservation, the district leader decried indiscriminate felling of tress, especially on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro which is the source of rivers and streams feeding people and their livestock in the region. To address the problem, the regional authorities have suspended issuance of permits for logging in the forest belt on the mountain and that the measure was not taken to frustrate local investors but to protect the mountain. He added that tree felling on the slopes of the mountain has increased in recent years and that it was to blame for the decreasing rains, rising temperatures and dropping of levels of water on the streams and rivers originating there. Although cutting of trees is rampant in villages surrounding the mountain, the situation is much worse along the banks of Kikafu river, one of the largest in the area. Most of the trees are felled for timber. "We have directed that tree planting should be undertaken in every primary school, village and institution to take deliberate efforts to plant trees in their respective localities", he pointed out. |
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