Announcement of IDA will Support Export Rehabilitation and Food Production in Tanzania on April 23, 1981

:fOR IMMEDIATE RE~EASE eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 81/69 Apr i 1 23, 1981 IDA WILL SUPPORT EXPORT REHABILITATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION IN TANZANIA The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending, has approved a credit of SOR 40.9 million ($50 million) to Tanzania for an export rehabilitation program. The program is expected to increase the volume of traditional agricul- tural exports and the growth rate of manufactured and processed exports, and to provide support for the production of major food crops. Tanzania's traditional export commodities--cotton, coffee, cloves, sisal, cashews, tea, and tobacco--have been adversely affected in recent years by various factors including poor weather, insufficient foreign ex- • change to finance basic import requirements, difficulties in agricultural research and extension, and low producer prices . The export rehabilitation program includes among its objectives an improvement in producer returns to farmers. Such price incentives will make it more worthwhile for farmers to maintain their current plantings of export crops and to increase their yields. In addition, efforts will be made to grant priority to imports in- tended for use in the agricultural sector, and to increase the efficien- cy of Tanzania's parastatal public organizations in the agricultural sector. The program will also include measures to promote non-traditional exports of both manufactured goods and minor crops which are not yet sig- nificant export earners. The IDA credit is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace and is interest-free, except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum to cover the Association's administrative costs. NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dol- • lar equivalent of the SDR amount of the IDA credit reflects the ex- change rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit.