THE Executive Director of the Zanzibar State Trade Corporation (ZSTC), Ms Mwanahija Almasi Ali, has said that the branding of the Islands cloves is expected to start next year if all goes well.
“Experts are now working on DNA specification process before branding begins,” Ms Ali said here, adding that branding will help to protect and promote Zanzibar cloves in the world market.
She said at her Maisara Street office that branding was one of the major reforms being taken by the government in reviving and promoting the national crop, which remains Zanzibar’s number-one foreign export.
Ms Ali said other support to clove farmers is to maintain better buying prices from farmers despite unstable prices in the world market. “We ask farmers to keep selling their clove to ZSTC (the only authorised dealer in the Islands).
There is no need of taking risks selling in neighbouring countries at 10,000/- while we pay 14,000/- per kilogramme,” she said.The executive director said that ZSTC has enough cash to buy clove from farmers and that any amount of clove will be paid cash so that farmers can feel the benefits of investing in clove farming.
She said her government expects to buy 4,500 tonnes of clove by January 2016, when the season ends and that so far 1,730 tonnes have been bought by December 18, this year. She said that 126 farmers have also been supported with loans amounting to 342.3m/- clove harvest activities.
/Daily News.
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