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Direct more resources to agriculture, appeals Z`bar Chief Minister Nahodha
2007-11-20 09:38:30
By Jane Mkonya
Zanzibar Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha has underscored the need for the government to allocate more resources to improve agriculture so as to achieve sustainable development and economic growth.
Speaking at the official launch of the third poverty policy week held in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Nahodha said that the government should strive for higher agricultural productivity to alleviate poverty.
He underscored the need for the government to improve physical infrastructure, education especially technical and vocational training to promote intellectual and productive capacity; and the improvement of health services to enhance social and physical wellbeing of the people.
``The government of the United Republic of Tanzania has been addressing these challenges to a great extent, but tackling these challenges alone will not guarantee the success of poverty reduction programmes,`` he noted.
He said the government should also strive to promote people`s participation and ownership of the poverty reduction process; and must be involved in both planning and implementation of the programmes.
``I want to emphasize here on the need to encourage the issue of ownership in the poverty reduction. In order to ensure successful implementation of the programmes there is urgency for local people to internalize a sense of ownership of the poverty reduction process,`` he said.
The government, civil society organizations and development partners on the other hand, should act as the facilitators of the process.
They can do this by providing proper guidance, mobilising and channeling the resources as well as monitoring the progress of poverty reduction programme, he said.
``I am pleased to learn that Mkukuta monitoring system has succeeded to achieve this noble task,`` he said.
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