DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 17 -- LAST week on this page, we had a very engaging dialogue following an essay titled ‘Why are Farmers Poor?. I attempted to highlight a few reasons behind this unfortunate reality affecting millions of Tanzanians employed in this vital sector. I pointed out that the low use of technology, including limited adoption of improved seeds and fertilisers together with poor infrastructure, particularly storage facilities, leads to very low returns on farmers investments.

As has become customary on this platform, the discussion that followed was lively and insightful. There were numerous exchanges with my wonderful readers on several issues raised in the article. I express this with humility and appreciation, knowing...