Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives Division.
Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives is among of the divisions in the Municipal that contributes to the economic development of the District. The name of the division reflects the major three sections of the division which are Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives. Its overall goal in the council is to ensure basic food security for the community, standards of nutritional by increasing quantity, quality and availability of food commodities, to improve standard of living in the households through increase of income generation from agricultural processing and marketing, improving rural welfare, and extension of market for industrial output. Agriculture is a good source of food, it provides raw materials for manufacturing industries, provides employment and contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation. Irrigation is a means for intensified agriculture and increased production. Cooperatives have been an important part of the development of Kigamboni Municipal Council as it brings poor people together, through cooperatives it help to reduce poverty. Cooperative provides capital to farmers and good prices of their produces in the market. In order for the Division to achieve its goals it needs to perform the following core functions:
Provision of agriculture, irrigation and cooperative extension services to the community.
Improvement of agricultural infrastructures (irrigation infrastructures, market, ware houses and Ward Resource Center).
To bridge the gap between Agriculture Research Institutes and farmers on dissemination of agricultural improved technology.
To facilitate linkage between farmers and development partners’
Monitoring and evaluation of project or activities related to agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives.
Capacity building to farmers and agricultural staff on Good Agricultural Practices to different crops, post-harvest management practices, marketing of agricultural produce, Mitigation and adaptation to climate change in agricultural sector,
To reinforce the laws, guidelines and procedures related to agriculture, irrigation and cooperatives sector
Agriculture
Kigamboni Municipal Council has an area of 596.2 Km² which is equivalent to 57,786.8 Hectors. The available land for agriculture is about 21,000 Hectors and about 19,000 Hactors is currently used for Agriculture activities. Mainly grown crops are horticultural (fruits and vegetables). Trend of food crops production (maize, rice, cassava and sweet potatoes) has decreased in the three years because of urbanization, but for business crops (vegetables and fruits) production is increasing as people are engaging into modernized urban farming. There is one Municipal Resource Centre, which is active and farmers get opportunity to gather knowledge on different modern Agricultural practices.
Production of Food Crops:
Major food crop grown in Kigamboni Municipal Council are, Cassava, Paddy, Maize, Sweet potatoes, Cowpeas and Pigeon pea, Cash crops are Citrus, Pineapple, Pawpaw, Mangoes, Coconut, Sunflower, Bananas, Cucumber, Water melon and Passion fruits and Vegetables are Chinese cabbage, Amaranthus, figiri, tomatoes, Cassava leaves, Okra, Sweet pepper, Sweet potato leaves and Eggplants which are produced in Pembamnazi, Kisarawe II, Kimbiji, Somangila, Mjimwema, Tungi, Vijibweni, Kibada and Kigamboni Wards. All crops are produced in both urban and peri urban areas, whereby in urban areas they produce more vegetables as urban agriculture activities.
