Celebrating decades of the Netherlands and Tanzania’s decorated ties
King's Day celebrates the Netherlands' ties with Tanzania, highlighting environmental initiatives like cycling for recycling. The bilateral relationship spans economic development, democracy, media freedom, gender equality, climate change, and agriculture. Dutch support includes youth empowerment, media partnerships, GBV prevention, climate action, agricultural innovation, and economic collaboration for sustainable growth and startup development.
Koningsdag or King's Day is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands observed each year on 27 April in honour of King Willem-Alexander's birthday.
The Dutch traditionally celebrate this holiday while dressed in orange
This is one party you don’t want to miss if you are in the Netherlands as fun fairs are held throughout the country, and you can take part in funny traditional Dutch games such as bite-the-cake and throwing toilet bowls, to name a few.
The Netherlands Embassy organized a biking event from Umoja House, where the embassy is located, to Coco Beach, Dar es Salaam with a theme “Cycling for Recycling”. Cycling was done in collaboration with Doors of Hope and AfriCraft aiming to promote awareness of environmental issues.
Biking was one way of celebrating King’s Day in Dar es Salaam by showcasing the Dutch lifestyle of biking. It is estimated that one person in the Netherlands owns two bikes, making the population of bicycles bigger than people.
The Ambassador, H.E Wiebe de Boer led the bikers to Coco Beach where he together with the Kinondoni District Commissioner Hon. Saadi Mtambule launched a Waste Management and Information Centre.
The Centre is managed by AfriCraft who are introducing waste separation bins at Coco Beach. In separating waste, it is easy to recycle and re-use.
It has trained 10 waster pickers with recycling knowledge, who have now become waste changers.
The launch of the Centre was preceded by beach cleaning by engaging three primary school students from Bongoyo, Msasani and Oysterbay. The students learned about recycling too. It is hoped that the students will educate their parents not to litter but recycle.
King’s Day reflection on Netherlands-Tanzania ties
Beyond the celebration of this day, there’s a reflection on the bilateral ties between Tanzania and Netherlands that culminates its 62 years of life.
The Dutch-Tanzania’s strong bond is eloquently geared towards promotion of sustainable economic development and investment, going hand in hand with a focus on democracy, human rights, rule of law, media freedom, gender, climate change and agriculture. Supporting youth-led initiatives and youth entrepreneurship is another key-feature promoted by the Netherlands.
Youth and democracy
Welcoming President Samia’s decision to reshape the political scene with her 4R’s philosophy, the Netherlands has supported this agenda by organizing youth-based political dialogues to digest and promote youth civic spaces in collaboration with the Tanzania Center for Democracy (TCD) for two years now.
Media freedom
The Netherlands is astutely aware that media freedom is a fundamental right and requirement towards exercising democratic governance in any country, and in that regard, is for example partnering with the likes of Jamii Media, to amplify female voices in digital electoral reporting in the forthcoming elections of 2024 and 2025. Promotion of investigative journalism skills by young female journalists through Tanzania Bora Initiative was another initiative supported by the Netherlands.
Gender
In halting Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases, the Embassy sides with the WILDAF, a women-based CS0, to address the pressing GBV incidents through organizing Anti-GBV caravan, Shule Tour and by working with government.
Climate change
On climate change, the Embassy is at the forefront either. Through a holistic and inclusive approach, while driven by a credence that anything can prosper at the grassroots, the Embassy integrated youth and children to inspire more successful climate actions through animation.
The Embassy also, linked up with TAI, a visual storytelling NGO and producer of the very appealing interactive animation, “Kijana Kijani” used for awareness raising amongst school youth on the impacts of climate change and adaptation methods.
Agriculture
Despite its small size, the Netherlands ranks as the world's second-largest exporter of agricultural products, owing to its innovative approaches, knowledge, and advanced technologies.
Netherlands has prioritized horticulture, potatoes, poultry, and aquaculture. The Northern circuit hosts over 80 Dutch companies in Tanzania, highlighting the significance of this collaboration..
Recognizing the importance of developing the horticulture and potato seed sectors for nutrition and food security, a horticulture and potato seed platform was recently launched to facilitate sectoral development and attract investments together with the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the poultry and aquaculture sectors, collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries has resulted to practical trainings through demonstration centres and the revision of training curricula and accredited by the NACTE and sharing innovation and technologies for sustainable farming.
A recent study visit to the Netherlands by a delegation from the Ministry of Livestock and the private sector further reinforced this collaboration, focusing on areas such as poultry genetics, feed, value addition, and health.
These collaborative efforts not only benefit the current agricultural landscape but also equip future generations with the necessary skills for the labor market.
Economic ties
The Netherlands seeks partnerships for economic growth of Tanzania mainly in trade, investment, logistics and innovation.
The Netherlands seeks synergies between the Dutch and Tanzanian economic interests and works with a platform approach to bring stakeholders together to create mutual benefits.
Supporting startups growth is perceived as an accelerator of job creation, youth employment and sustained economic growth.
Again, the Dutch realizes that Tanzania has a great potential to further develop as an efficient regional gateway through development of inland corridors and the main ports of Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. It is strengthening efficient logistics and ports with close linkage to our strategic work on agriculture and food systems.
Furthermore, the Netherlands also focuses on cross-cutting themes of sustainable development, digitalization, and support for young (female) entrepreneurs through various hubs in the country, such as Westerwelle, Anza, I4policy, and She Found.
These initiatives aim to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Tanzania. The complex contemporary global transitions that also the Netherlands and Tanzania faces today demand smart and innovative future-proof solutions.
Author: By Maliki Muunguja
The Embassy provides regular updates on developments in the agriculture sector. To receive the updates follow us on our X (Twitter) account @NLAgriTanzania and/or subscribe to our newsletter by sending an email to dar-lnv@minbuza.nl.