Dar es Salaam — Tanzania is yet to exploit its potential to produce spices for export.mEven data on spices production and demand are hard to come by.That was known during a meeting of members of the Tanzania Spices Association (Taspa) early this week in Dar es Salaam to formulate a strategy on the produce exports.Participants said although demand for black pepper, cloves and cinnamon was high in Canada, Spain and United Arabs Emirates, such markets were under supplied.Taspa and the Tanzania Trade Development Authority have teamed up to collect data for use in strategy formulation for spices exports. Taspa secretary Baraka Masoudi told The Citizen that the meeting was aimed at determining ways of improving spice exports."We are scattered; every spice farmer survives on his/her own, which makes it very difficult to collect data. But, through our association, we can start exploring networks to secure more exports markets," he said. According to him, potential buyers want to know the production capacity. The International Trade Centre has embarked on a four-year programme to enhance export competitiveness. The project, which started last year is being implemented in East Africa Community (EAC) and is funded by the European Union. The target is to expand the spice market by 2022.Nutritionists say because they tend to have strong flavors and are used in small quantities, spices tend to add few calories to food, even though many spices, especially those made from seeds, contain high portions of fat, protein, and carbohydrate by weight.However, when used in larger quantity, spices can also contribute a substantial amount of minerals and other micronutrients, including iron, magnesium, calcium, and many others, to the diet. For example, a teaspoon of paprika contains about 1133 IU of Vitamin A.Source: Allafrica.com