Viticulture initiative for Tanzania

Distell, the South African wine-making and export distribution force, is spearheading a fledgling viticultural initiative in Tanzania that should see wine farmers double their crops within three to five years. The company’s involvement in the East African country is a joint venture with Tanzania Distilleries Limited (TDL) – in which it holds a 35% stake – and focuses specifically on the highlands vineyards of Dodoma. At the same time, Distell is donating substantial cuttings of the Villard blanc cultivar, propagated at its dedicated nursery, Ernita, near Wellington. Once established as vineyards, Dodoma will become an additional and much-needed source for making brandy and popular wines for the Tanzanian market. Given TDL’s limited combined capacity of about 800 tons a year from two cellars, much of its wine currently has to be imported from Distell. “The intention behind the project,” says chief viticulturist, Dirk Bosman, “is to increase the local content in TDL’s wine and brandy ranges, transfer skills, build capacity and boost job opportunities in an otherwise marginalised rural area.” What is more, Bosman believes similar projects may be possible in other Distell-involved sub-Saharan countries, Zimbabwe and Kenya, for instance, where a market for wine exists. He is training Tanzanian farmers and extension officers in viticulture and low-tech vineyard management to improve the quality and yield of local vineyards and has begun a series of plantings at the Makutopora Research and Training Centre, near Dodoma, which occupies about 150ha. As the tropical climate only enables two harvests a year, Distell says a major part of its task will be to introduce appropriate measures to ensure a single August/ September crop of superior quality and output. Says Bosman: “We are confident that with further plantings and improved farming techniques, it will be possible for wine farming to become a meaningful contributor to Tanzania’s agricultural GDP.”