Tanzania is widely regarded as an agricultural country. Over 65% of its population of 67 million depends on farming for their livelihoods and the sector contributes about 25% of GDP. The country has a total land area of 945,000 sq. km, equivalent to 94.5 million hectares, of which 44 million hectares are arable. This makes Tanzania one of the largest agricultural potentials in East Africa, owing to its vast and underutilised arable land.
However, our average crop output per hectare is lower compared to neighbouring countries and the FAO benchmark. Crop yield invariably depends on four factors: fertiliser use, seed quality, soil fertility and rainfall conditions. Earlier this year, I wrote about how rainfall challenges can be addressed through irrigation. Today, I would like to focus on fertiliser usage.
Fertiliser application is a cornerstone of higher crop yields. Research by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) indicates that, all else being equal, a farmer applying fertiliser on one hectare of land can harvest 18–25 bags (each 90 kg) of maize per acre, compared to only 5–8 bags for a farmer who does not. This highlights Tanzania’s national challenge: the average maize yield is just 1.5 tonnes per hectare, far below the potential of 4–5 tonnes per hectare when fertiliser and improved practices are adopted, as demonstrated in Kenya and Ethiopia.
There are four main reasons why fertiliser use is lower in Tanzania than in neighbouring countries.
- Affordability: International price volatility and high inland transport costs often push retail prices beyond the reach of smallholder farmers.
- Access: Distribution at grassroots level remains limited, particularly away from main roads. Small agro-dealers face working capital constraints and seasonality frequently causes stock shortages just when farmers most need inputs.
- Knowledge: Many farmers lack guidance on which type of fertiliser to use and the correct timing of application. This problem is compounded by under-resourced extension officers who struggle to fulfil their mandates.
- Quality and trust: Fears of adulteration and uncertainty about product performance discourage farmers from investing in fertilisers.
To raise application rates to levels comparable with Kenya or Ethiopia, Tanzania could adopt a combination of the following approaches:
- Introduce smart, targeted subsidies: Replace broad and distortionary subsidies with digital e-voucher schemes linked to NIDA or mobile numbers, ensuring that only genuine smallholder farmers benefit.
- Strengthen grassroots distribution: Increase investment in local fertiliser production and expand working-capital facilities for agro-dealers through collateral-free inventory lending. Improve rural warehousing to allow stock to be pre-positioned ahead of the rainy season.
- Integrate subsidies with extension services: Provide farmers with advice on correct application, including dosage, timing and integration with good agronomic practices. Extension services should receive adequate budgetary support.
- Address fears of adulteration: Establish or upgrade independent fertiliser testing laboratories across regions to conduct regular product sampling and testing. Encourage farmer cooperatives to purchase in bulk from trusted suppliers, reducing reliance on small, unregulated traders.
