Tanzania is seeking to reshape its agricultural sector by expanding irrigation, increasing seed production and promoting modern farming technologies as it moves to raise productivity and reduce its exposure to climate and global market shocks.
Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said on Monday that the Government would direct more investment towards strategic agricultural programmes, with a particular focus on improving farmers’ access to irrigation, modern equipment, quality seeds and other services over the next five years.
Dr Mwigulu made the remarks during talks with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu in Rome, where he is representing President Samia Suluhu Hassan at an international conference on One Health and food and agricultural systems.
The Government's approach signals a shift from simply increasing agricultural production to improving how crops are produced, processed and marketed, with value addition seen as key to securing better returns from Tanzania's agricultural resources.
“Tanzania aims to stop selling raw products, which have created challenges whenever we face disruptions in global markets. We want to add value to our crops and have competitive markets,” Dr Mwigulu said.
Tanzania has significant land and water resources that could support higher agricultural output, but the Prime Minister said these needed to be better utilised to develop farming systems that can withstand climate change.
Irrigation is expected to play a central role in reducing farmers’ dependence on increasingly unpredictable rainfall while allowing production to continue beyond traditional rain-fed farming seasons.
Dr Mwigulu also identified large-scale seed production and access to modern agricultural equipment as other priorities, saying the Government wanted farmers to have better tools and services to improve productivity.
The Government is also using digital technology to register farmers and agricultural input suppliers, a system intended to improve the distribution of farm equipment, fertiliser and other agricultural services.
Dr Mwigulu said Tanzania wanted to concentrate its resources on a limited number of strategic programmes capable of delivering measurable results, while also attracting investment and capital into the sector.
For Tanzania, the push for value addition could also help address one of the longstanding challenges facing agricultural producers—earning more from crops after production.
Instead of exporting commodities in raw form, increased local processing could create additional economic activity while linking farmers to processors and more competitive markets.
Dr Qu urged Tanzania to strengthen investment in young scientists and researchers, saying innovation would be critical to transforming the agricultural sector.
“Invest in young scientists. Empower them by enabling them to participate in research and innovation,” he said.
He also urged the Government to ensure smallholder farmers are involved in decisions concerning the sector, noting that they remain the main actors implementing agricultural programmes.
FAO is also promoting the use of production and trade standards and technology to connect smallholder farmers with markets, Dr Qu said.
Improved standards and digital market connections could help farmers meet market requirements and compete for wider domestic and international trading opportunities.
The discussions in Rome come as Tanzania seeks to raise agricultural productivity while making the sector more resilient to climate change, improving value addition and reducing the impact of volatility in global commodity markets.
Dr Mwigulu is attending the September 21-23 conference on behalf of President Samia.