Biotech firm produces only 17pc of capacity
DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA Biotech Production Limited (TBPL) has been producing only 17 per cent of its total capacity since its inception eight years ago, attributing the shortfall to a lack of market demand and insufficient funding.
The biolarvicides state-ofart plant has so far produced merely 1,023,188 litres of anti-mosquito stuff in eight years between 2016 and May 2024 against the projection of 6.0 million litres.
The factory under the National Development Corporation (NDC) aims to wipe out mosquito vector borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue and Zika.
The NDC Director General, Dr Nicholas Shombe told The ‘Daily News’ over the weekend that the goal was to start with 4.2 million litres in its first year and increase production to reach 6.0 million litres annually by the fourth year, ultimately aiming for 25.185 million litres.
“The low production levels are due to a lack of a reliable market and insufficient funds,” Dr Shombe said.
He pointed out that a biolarvicides offtake agreement with the Ministry of Health was intended to support production but was not enforced, impacting the factory’s performance negatively.
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According to the agreement, the ministry was supposed to purchase 472,500 litres per month, with an annual requirement of 5,670,000 litres.
The purchased litres were supposed to be distributed to Local Government Authorities (LGAs).
Efforts to revive the agreement have been ongoing since November 2021, involving the Ministry of Industry, NDC, the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Health.
However, the new tripartite agreement, which has been prepared, remains unsigned by the Permanent Secretaries of the respective ministries.
From 2016/17 to 2022/23, the factory sold 280,844 liters worth over 3.5bn/-.
Between last July and May this year, the firm managed to sell 609.3m/- worth of biolarvicides. Recently, the government allocated 2.5bn/- for the purchase of 208,333 litres of biolarvicides to be distributed to councils by September.
TBPL products have quality certificates from Tropical Pesticides Research Institute (TPRI) of Tanzania.
Additionally, as a way of monitoring the quality of the products in the market, National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) has recently issued a report which affirms the robustness quality of the biolarvicides.
The factory also exports some of its products to Niger, Angola and Mozambique.
