OPENING SPEECH HIS EXCELLENCE SECOND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT OF ZANZIBAR DURING THE 14TH AFRICAN FINE COFFEE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION LAUNCH AT SEA CLIFF ZANZIBAR

Second Vice President of The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar 

Balozi Seif Ali Iddi

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Honorable Minister for Agriculture Food Security and Cooperation;

Honorable Minister for Trade and Industry Zanzibar;

Permanent Secretaries;

Principal Secretaries;

Director General, Tanzania Coffee Board;

Chairman, AFCA;

Ladies and Gentleman;

Good afternoon,

It’s my pleasure to welcome you all to the launch of the 14th AFCA Conference and Exhibition here in Zanzibar.

This will be the 14th Conference and exhibition and is the first time comes to Zanzibar. I am delighted to see that the organizers of this conference have chosen Zanzibar to host the coming conference. As you will see Zanzibar offers a lot of varied opportunities from tourism to agriculture, from trade to services and others, all of which without doubt, your invited delegates around the globe will find it attractive promising and fascinating.

Although we have hosted a number of conferences and exhibitions, this coming coffee conference will be the largest ever in the Island attracting about 1,000 delegates from all over the world who will come to discuss about coffee, from its production to consumption. This is indeed will be a valuable event for Zanzibar in particular and the country in general.
I am happy to see that the theme of the conference is research and innovation it has come at the right time as research and innovation has now penetrated into virtually all areas of operation of agriculture and entwined with agricultural practices.

To effectively benefit from technology applications, it is essential that researchers set themselves ready for transforming their practices and keep identifying elective ways for transformations in their contexts.

Our Government is now geared towards more investment in research and development to see that we move from where we are towards a new approach which is orientation in the creation of sustainable value for farmers, consumer and in general for stakeholders, offering products, solutions and services in line with relevant expectations and always aiming to the best levels of excellence and quality.We have made huge strides in the area of Research and Innovation in coffee subsector. However, like of the rest producer Africa, much still needs to be done to improve fertilizer management, pest and disease management, improved varieties and climate change mitigation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Coffee, as a commodity, has continued to play a leading role in the economy of Tanzania, contributing about 23% of the agricultural GDP earning in a million dollar industry. The Social – Economic footprint of coffee remains quite high with almost over a million households involved.

The 14th AFCC & E will enable delegates from all over the world to discuss the future of Africa’s Coffee Research and Innovation as the next step to increase production and improve quality. The 14th AFCC & E will also provide Tanzania with an opportunity to “tell its coffee story” meet potential new buyer, discuss the latest in research and market insights from around the world.

I have asked the organizer about how the program will look like in February and what I see is that this Conference is going to be busy and productive. There is a lot to offer for a three-day event. I am also told there will be evening events taking place outside the conference such as visits to spice fields and historical sites. Believe me what the delegates will come out with is how Zanzibar is magical in all aspects. I am sure some of them will opt to remain behind for some days more. In fact they will be doing a right thing.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Conference Organizing Committee for their diligent work. I would also like to thank my fellow government officials, especially those of you coming from the mainland, for joining us and sharing your valuable experience and ideas in this conference.
Lastly but not the least, this year is an election year in Tanzania, as usual we hope for peaceful elections and God willing will be seeing each other during the conference.

Now I declare that this conference is officially launched and I wish you successful preparations of the conference and my office is fully supporting all what is needed to make sure that this conference will be a productive and a memorable one.

Thank you for your attention.