Working Paper No. 22 of 2017 on an Assessment of Tanzania's Agricultural Production, Climate Change, Agricultural Trade and Food Security

Abstract

Agriculture is the mainstay of Tanzania’s economy. The sector contributes significantly to national GDP and export earnings, supplies raw materials for agroindustry’s, supports rural livelihoods and feeds the urban population. Agriculture is important in managing inflation because it constitutes over half of the inflation basket as reflected in consumer price indices. However, the sector is dominated by smallholder farmers characterized by small family farms of around one hectare with limited industrial inputs and access to modern farm technologies. The agriculture sector is accorded the highest priority in the national development policies as an engine of growth and poverty reduction. The main policy goal is to achieve food security and eradicate poverty and hunger through agriculture development and transformation. However, the sector’s growth rate has stagnated at around 4 per cent in the last decade. The sector need to grow much faster (6%) than it has been over the past decade. Productivity in crop agriculture is still low at around 1-2 tonnes per hectare for cereals and grain legumes, which are central to the national food security. The sector is predominantly rain-fed and therefore prone to the vagaries of weather, which is expected to intensify with climate change.