Tanzania's slow agricultural growth affects poverty eradication: minister

DAR ES SALAAM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian finance minister said Wednesday that the country's 7-percent economic growth has not reflected on the lives of majority Tanzanians who were still leading poor lives.

"This poor state of affairs has been caused by slow growth of the agriculture sector, at 3.3 percent, compared to the mining sector that grows at 16 percent annually," Philip Mpango told a news conference at the 7th Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) annual general meeting in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

The minister said the agriculture sector employed more than 60 percent of Tanzania's population of about 54 million people.

Mpango said the government had put in place various policies and strategies to rejuvenate the agriculture sector but did not elaborate.

Mpango added that another factor causing the majority of Tanzanians to lead poor lives was an increase in the population.

"While Tanzania's population has seen a sharp rise, resources had remained the same," said Mpango. Enditem