Tanzania Agriculture Agriculture is one of the leading sectors in Tanzania accounting for 24% of the GDP, 30% of total exports and 65% of raw materials for Tanzanian industries. Tanzanian crops include cereals with 4,798,071 planted hectares or 61% of Tanzania’s total planted area, followed by roots and tubers 14%, pulses 12%, and oil seeds 7%. Main exported cash crops are coffee, tea, cotton, cashews, raw tobacco, sisal and spices.
Raw tobacco represents Tanzania’s most important exported cash crop growing from USD 55.7 million worth of exports in 2001 to USD 356 million in 2013, followed by cashews which grew from USD 52.5 million to USD 197 million and coffee from USD 68.9 million to USD 186 million in the same period.
Among the main food crops in Tanzania are maize, sorghum, millet, rice, wheat, beans, cassava, potatoes, bananas and plantains. Tanzania’s agricultural sector has played a key role in the last 25 years contributing to a general decline in poverty thanks to the country’s fertile arable lands, diverse climatic zones and plenty of natural water sources throughout Tanzania. However, only 24% out of about 44 million hectares of total lands have been utilized so far according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
These areas are being mainly cultivated by smallholder farmers whom develop average farm sizes between 0.9 and 3.0 hectares using rustic methods, leaving only 10% of the arable land cultivated by tractor. The main obstacles that hinder the development of the agricultural sector include; i. poor access and low use of improved seeds and fertilizers ii. Under-investment in productivity enhancing technologies including agricultural mechanization; iii. Limited access to financing for uptake of technologies iv.
Unreliability of rainfall in some of the regions v. Limited use of available water resources for irrigated agriculture. This is why the Tanzanian government is constantly promoting a policy environment with incentives in the agricultural sector. In 2008 the National Agricultural Input Voucher Scheme (NAIVS), a market smart input subsidy program designed in response to the sharp rise in global grain and fertilizer prices in 2007 and 2008, was introduced. The main aim of the program is to raise maize and rice production, and thus preserve Tanzania’s household and national food security.
The program has helped 2.5 million smallholder farmers to buy one acre package of maize or rice seed and chemical fertilizer at a discount of 50% from the market price and has helped to raise the demand for improved seeds with currently 20% of smallholder farmers using them and 12% using chemical fertilizer compared with the old figure of 3%.
It has also extended the Tanzania’s chemical fertilizer industry to total USD 191.85 million in 2013 up from USD 75.98 million registered at the end of 2007. In 2009 Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete launched the Kilimo Kwanza initiative as a central pillar in achieving the country’s Vision 2025 to become a middle-income country. Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First) is a national resolve to accelerate agricultural transformation in Tanzania.
It comprises a holistic set of policy instruments and strategic interventions towards addressing the various sectorial challenges and taking advantage of the numerous opportunities to modernize and commercialize agriculture in Tanzania.
In 2010 the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), an agricultural partnership designed to improve agricultural productivity, food security and livelihoods in Tanzania, was initiated. In 2011 SAGCOT’s Investment Blueprint was launched by Tanzanian President Kikwete, to showcase the investment opportunities in the Corridor and lays out a framework of institutions and activities required to reap the development potential. In 2015 the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank was established by the government of Tanzania, specifically to assist the government in implementing its policies and strategies relating to the agricultural sector.
Tanzania Livestock After crops, the livestock industry in the second biggest contributor to Tanzanian Agriculture representing 5.5% of the country’s household income and 30% of the Tanzania’s Agriculture GDP. Out of the contribution to GDP, 40% comes from beef production, 30% from milk and another 30% from small stock production which differ from region to region. Tanzania’s livestock population is mostly reared by smallholder farmers whose ownership totals 37.06 million being the majority concentrated in the country’s northern region according to UNESCO.
Tanzania livestock include cattle (18.8 million) and pigs (1.6 million). The sector has attracted international capitals mostly from the European Union to develop partnerships with smallholder farmers to develop commercial scale farming, allowing animal products exports to raise to USD 223 million in 2013 from USD 215 million in 2009 and 2010.
SOURCE: www.tanzaniainvest.com
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