Agriculture in Tanzania represents almost 30 percent of the country’s GDP with three quarter of the country’s workforce involved in this sector. Agriculture is undoubtedly the largest and most important sector of the Tanzanian economy, with the country benefitting from a diverse production base that includes livestock, staple food crops and a variety of cash crops.

There are plenty of business opportunities across domestic, regional and international markets, for both traditional and new products. However, productivity is low with modest progress over the past two decades. It is dominated by smallholder farmers dependent on rainfall for irrigation. Farmers and other sector stakeholders face considerable challenges in modernizing the industry to increase yields, exports and value-added processing. Slowing export revenues; land acquisition hurdles; and smallholder farmers struggling to access economically viable technology, adequate storage facilities, markets and credit have affected the sector.

Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) designed to quickly develop that region’s agricultural potential. These wide-reaching efforts should see production levels of key crops return to growth in the coming years, helping boost value-added processing in the sector.

The most common food crops in Tanzania are maize, wheat, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, beans sorghum, and sugar cane. Cash crops include coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, tobacco, tea and sisal. Multiple factors influence the farmer’s choice of crops, including 1) physical factors, such as soil quality and water availability; 2) economic factors, such as marketability and seed prices; 3) personal preferences of the household; 4) crop profiles, including crop yield and pest resistance; and 5) resource availability such as machinery and fertilizer.

Corn (Maize)
Corn is the most widely grown and consumed food crop in Tanzania. It is famously used to make stiff porridge (ugali) which is a local cuisine in Tanzania and most African countries. This is believed to have increased border delays and the cost of cross-border trade with Tanzania’s largest export markets for corn. Neighboring markets include Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most corn imports are seed, corn oil, yellow corn for animal feed, and other corn products such as breakfast cereal. Tanzania imports the most corn from the EU, South Africa, United States, and Ukraine.

Wheat
More than 90 percent of wheat produced in Tanzania comes from large commercial farms in the Northern Highlands or small and medium-sized family farms in the Southern Highlands. Most of the country’s wheat is grown in the North, specifically in Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and Manyara.

Wheat production in the year 2021/22 is expected to decrease by 22.2 percent to 70,000 MT, largely due to high post-harvest loss, below-average rainfall, and desert locust invasions in Northern Tanzania.


Tanzania imports wheat for commercial use from Russia, Australia, Canada, EU, and Ukraine, while imports from the United States are

Rice
Tanzania the biggest rice producer in the East Africa region. The rice sub-sector has long been identified by Tanzania as a strategic priority for agricultural development due to its potential for improving food security and income for rural households.

In recent years, Tanzania has prioritized rice cultivation for local consumption and export to neighboring countries. To accomplish these goals, the Ministry of Agriculture offers technical and training support from non-government organizations. It is also building irrigation schemes for rice production and encourages efficient use of fertilizers via its 10-year National Rice Development Strategy Phase II (NRDS-II).

In 2021/22 rice consumption and residual figure is expected to increase by 11.1 percent to 2.5 million MT due to changes in dietary preferences, affordability compared to wheat, accessibility, urbanization, increases in population, and availability. In Tanzania, rice is a staple food consumed in both urban and rural areas. Dar es Salaam is the principal end market for rice in the country and accounts for about 60 percent of consumption.


Sugar
Tanzania produces only 58 percent of its sugar consumption due to the high cost of production, processing inefficiencies, and inadequate marketing. The 42% demand gap is met by about USD 132 million in sugar imports from other countries, primarily Brazil and India. Because Tanzania’s sugar tariff at 10% is lower than the EAC common external tariff of 25-100%, it is less protectionist than some other countries. The market is less protected from imported sugar than in other countries. Despite this fact, the Government of Tanzania has consistently claimed that it wants to attract new investments into the sector.

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