Mr. Robert Gregory Lwanga is from Buchosa village, Sengerema District, in the Mwanza Region, Tanzania. He has been in the Nile perch fishing industry throughout his life, with a daily average production of 30kgs of fish and an income of TZS 300,000 (USD 111), insufficient to support his 12 family members’ livelihoods.
Mr. Robert is one of the beneficiaries of the Private Sector Desk, established in 2018 at the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries with the support of USAID/Feed the Future Sera Bora (Better Policies) Project. The Private Sector Desk aims to create an enabling environment for private sector investments in the livestock and fisheries sector, deliver evidence-based research results to spur policy reforms and ensure coordination between the four business chains: value addition, costing, profitability, and human capital. The Private Sector Desk also creates a platform to leverage Public Private Partnerships (PPP). Through its work, the Desk has accelerated the availability of soft loans through the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank, promoted insurance for the sector, removed limiting regulations such as radiation certificates across districts
and the single fishing license fees that can only be used on one specific water body. The Desk has also advocated eradicating export royalties for Nile perch.
During the financial year 2023/2024, the Government of Tanzania, through the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, allocated TZS 25 billion (USD 9,225,092) to the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank to implement a strategic project aimed at providing fishermen like Mr. Robert loans for modern fishing boats, seaweed farming, and cage fish farming.
Through its vast network, the Private Sector Desk, through USAID support, identified potential fishermen, including Mr. Robert, and supported them to develop written business proposals, assessed their fishing sites, and supported them to meet all the necessary conditions that qualified them to receive the loans.
Through this technical support, Mr. Robert received one modern fishing boat worth TZS 37,000,000 (USD 13,692) equipped with fishing gear, GPS, and life jackets. Since then, his fish production has increased drastically from an average of 30kgs to 300kgs per day, and his income has increased from TZS 300,000 (USD 111) to TZS 3,000,000 (USD 1,110). This has enabled him to pay back the loan and Government charges and provides a better livelihood for his family, including an improved family house.
