Announcement of IDA Provides Technical Assistance to Increase Agricultural Production in Tanzania on February 11, 1982

. . . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/33 Contact: Ms. Pushpa Schwartz February 11, 1982 (202) 477-5306 IDA PROVIDES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO INCREASE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN TANZANIA Expert advice needed to help Tanzania develop its agriculture will be provided under a technical assistance project, the International Development Association (IDA) announced today. The World Bank's affiliate for concessionary lending has approved a credit of SDR 10.2 million ($12 mill ion) for the project. Agriculture accounts for the largest share of the country's export earnings. The development of this important activity has been held back partly by the lack of skilled manpower to staff the Ministry of Agriculture and commodity organiza- tions responsible for supporting farm production. The IDA funds will be used primarily to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture and three commodity organizations: the Coffee Authority, the Tanzania Cotton Authority, and the Tanzania Sisal Authority. Three commodi- • ties--coffee, cotton, and sisal--account for about half of the country's export earnings. The cost of providing the services of three international development specialists and five economists (including two Tanzanians) to staff an advisory group established last year to prepare a recovery program for the country's economy will be financed from the IDA credit. The group was set up with the support of an advance of $200,000 from the World Bank's Project Preparation Facility. The technical assistance project will be carried out by the Director of Planning , Ministry of Agriculture, P.O. Box 9192, Dar es Salaam {Cable address: KILIMOI). Two earlier credits for technical assistance, totaling $17 million, have helped finance feasibility and other pre-investment studies in productive sectors, special studies for improving efficiency and the use of productive capacity under existing investments, and training for Tanzanians in project activities. The IDA credit to Tanzania is repayable over 50 years including 10 years of grace; it is interest-free but carries a service charge of 3/4 of 1% a year to cover administrative costs. • NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a 11 basket 11 of currencies. The U.S. dollar equivalent of the SDR amount of the IDA credit reflects the exchange rates existing at the time of negotiation of the credit.