Good Hope Africa

Agriculture

Agriculture is the leading sector of the economy of Tanzania. Apart from providing food, agriculture remains the country's main source of income for the rural population, which forms 80% of the total population and employs 70% of the active labour force of the population. It contributes about 50% of the GDP and about 75% of the foreign exchange earnings. In Tanzania Agriculture is dominated by smallholder farmers with farm sizes ranging between 1 hectare and 3 hectares. Most of these smallholders use the hand hoe as the main cultivating tool. Ox ploughs are used by about twenty percent of the farmers and about ten per cent use tractors.

A wide variety of crops can be grown in Tanzania due to its wide climatic variation and agro-ecological conditions. Area cultivated for food production makes up the bigger part of land under crop production. Maize and rice are principal food crops as well as commercial crops, while cassava and bananas are important subsistence crops. Traditional export crops of Tanzania are coffee, cotton, tea, sisal and cashew nuts. Other widely grown crops include beans, sorghum, millet, sweet potatoes and various types of oil seeds. A wide variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers are also grown in Tanzania.

Maize

Mainly small-scale farmers produce maize in Tanzania. The main maize producing areas in the country are Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Mbeya, Rukwa and Ruvuma. According to the Food Security Department, the annual production of maize in the country has hardly gone beyond 3.0 million tonnes for the past ten years. Adverse weather conditions are usually reported to be the major factor contributing to the reduction in the levels of production.

Rice

Small-scale farmers mainly produce Paddy in Tanzania. There are a few large-scale paddy farms, which are owned by the National Agriculture and Good Corporation (NAFCO). Larger scale paddy farming is largely done with irrigated water using modern irrigation facilities while small-scale paddy farming is almost entirely dependent on rainfall. Small-scale paddy farming in low lands normally uses traditional irrigation facilities. Tanzania has a big potential for the expansion of paddy farming. The annual production of paddy in Tanzania lies between 600,000 and 700,000 tonnes. The major paddy producing regions in Tanzania are Shinyanga, Mwanza, Morogoro, Mbeya and Tabora.

Sugar production

Sugar is a sweet crystalline substance, which may be derived from the juices of various plants. Chemically, the basis of sugar is sucrose, one of a group of soluble carbohydrates, which are important dietary sources of energy in the human diet. It can be obtained from trees, including the maple and certain palms, but virtually all manufactured sugar comes from two plants sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) and sugar cane, a giant perennial grass of the genus Saccharum. Sugar cane, found in tropical areas, grows to a height of up to 5 metres or more In Tanzania sugar is produced from Sugar cane. Sugar cane in Tanzania is primarily grown in four estates, namely Kilombero Sugar Company, Mtibwa Sugar Estate, Tanganyika Planting Company and Kagera Sugar Limited. Apart from sugar cane grown by the estates, other sugar cane is grown by out growers who are found at Kilombero and Mtibwa estates and there contribution has gradually increased in recent years. In general the annual sugar production in Tanzania is about 115,000 tonnes per annum while the estimated demand of sugar is estimated at 300,000 tonnes. Tanzania imports about 200,000 tonnes per annum to offset the shortfall. Sugar Production

Wheat

Tanzania produces an average of 70,000 tonnes of wheat annually. The bulk of wheat produced in country comes from the Hannang Wheat Complex, which consists of seven individual farms with about 4,000 hectares of cultivated land. The farms are in Hannang district, Arusha region. The farms are fully autonomous subsidiary companies of NAFCO. NAFCO was able to develop the farms since the early 1970s with the financial and technical assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). CIDA’s assistance to NAFCO ended in 1993. Apart from NAFCO farms, large-scale private farmers also produce wheat in Arusha, Iringa and Kilimanjaro. Also there are a good number of small-scale farmers who produce wheat for subsistence in Ludewa, Njombe and Makete districts.

Livestock production

Livestock production is one of the major agricultural activities in Tanzania. The sub sector contributes to national food supply, converts rangelands resources into products suitable for human consumption and is a source of cash incomes and an inflation – free store of value. It provides about 30 per cent of the Agricultural GDP. Out of the subsector’s contribution to GDP, about 40 percent originates from beef production, 30 percent from Milk production and another 30 percent from poultry and small stock production.

Livestock production originates from a large resource base composed of the different livestock species, breeds and types whose ownership and distribution differ from region to region. Three livestock production systems are commonly distinguished in the rangeland areas; commercial ranching, pastoralism and agro-pastoralism.

The livestock numbers have been increasing steadily (ranking third in Africa) in recent decades at roughly the same rate as the human population growth. Out of 3.7 million households in the country, 3 percent are pastoralists and 7 percent are agro-pastoralists. The livestock sub-sector generates over one-quarter of agricultural GDP. Cattle are dominant species, they account for about 75 percent of total livestock production, there are sheep and goats, poultry, and the pigs. Approximately 99 percent of livestock sub-sector belongs to traditional (small) owners, with big ranches and dairy farms constituting the remaining 1 percent.

Most of the livestock products are for domestic market. Important exports are live animals, hides and skins. This sub-sector needs to be developed particularly in the dairy farming and its products, meat processing to meet the domestic demand and for export market opportunities.

While encouraging private investment, the Government is to concentrate on core services to support the development of this subsector.

The animals are a source of manure, hides and skins. They are also potential source of draught power (800,000) for cultivation and transport. Livestock provide alternative savings to banks with reasonable protection from inflation small ruminant industry play a crucial role.

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