Kenya's Prime Minister, Mr Raila Odinga, is scheduled to arrive in Mwanza early next month.

Livestock Development and Fisheries minister John Pombe Magufuli said yesterday that Mr Odinga would be on a two-day tour of Kagera and Mwanza regions on September 5 and 6 to take part in the first anniversary of the death of Mr Magufuli's father, Mr Joseph Magufuli, in Chato District, Kagera Region.

The Kenyan premier would on the following day inaugurate a building at St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) situated about 11 kilometres on the southern fringes of Mwanza, Tanzania's second largest commercial city after Dar es Salaam. Mr Odinga, who hails from the Kenyan lakeside city of Kisumu, would address residents of the lakeside city of Mwanza immediately after inaugurating the SAUT building.

A tarmac road heading to the Roman Catholic higher learning institution's campus was also inaugurated by Mr Odinga when he was the Works minister of the neighbouring country.

Other dignitaries expected attend Mr Magufuli's father first death anniversary include Tanzania's third phase President, Mr Benjamin William Mkapa and a number of bishops.

Meanwhile, Mr Magufuli implored Tanzanians to conserve livestock and fish. He said both were saving the nation about Sh10 trillion each year. Addressing a press conference at the Mwanza regional commissioner's office recently, he warned that depletion of natural resources would cost the nation dearly.

He said the country would have to spend much money to import 410,000 tonnes of meat currently obtained and consumed locally. This is apart from eggs as well as milk and fish products, he said.

While Tanzanians are estimated to consume an average of 1.5 billion eggs a year, one Tanzanian consumes an average of only 41 litres of milk a year.

This contrasts the 200 litres a year advised by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), with Rukwa being the region consuming the least amount of milk. It is estimated that each resident of the region consumes only 8.1 litres of the nutritious liquid each year.

Mr Magufuli said although Tanzania was the third country on the African continent in the number of livestock it has, it lagged behind in the consumption of livestock products.

"Tanzania boasts of having 18.8 million cows, 13.6 million goats, 3.6 million sheep, 1.4 million pigs, 35 million traditionally kept chicken and about 20 million high breed chicken, let alone dogs and domestic rabbits and ducks," Mr Magufuli said.

In desert stricken countries, which do not keep as many numbers of livestock as Tanzania's, one person consumes up to 99 litres of milk, he pointed out, citing the case of Egypt.