Regional Markets

3 Cases
On the consumer side, TAHA projects increase the supply of vegetables to meet the
increasing demand of cities, which has substantially increased due to population growth
and urbanisation.
Food quality
The TAHA project improves food quality by teaching ‘good agricultural practices’
including the proper use of pesticides, fungicides and fertilisers, proper handling and
packaging measures. These trainings help farmers to obtain a good quality product
and to reduce post-harvest losses substantially both resulting in additional income. By
increasing the supply of produce and other natural sources of vitamins and minerals,
the diet of the Tanzanian urban population is diversified and healthier, in terms of
nutritional value.
Infrastructure and governance
The TAHA project has been instrumental in improving the closed cold chain infrastructure
from point of harvest to point of supply for vegetables. This includes farm
level collection centres, regional or zonal collection hubs, and cooled transport. For
example, in Zanzibar TAHA invested in a collection hub where vegetables are collected
from eight zones in Zanzibar and supplied to the hotels at a fee. The hub has been
transferred to farmer groups at no cost. Infrastructural support helped increase productivity
and reduce post-harvest losses by more than 50%. The logistics company, TAHA
Fresh Handling Ltd., has improved farmers’ access to export markets, at a reasonable
fee. Most farmers supported by TAHA reside in the Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions,
which have decent road and airport infrastructure. This infrastructure has been very
beneficial for facilitating access to the nearby East African regional markets as well as
the distant European export market.
The close collaboration with policymakers, relevant regulatory bodies, industry
lobby groups as well as other key stakeholders has been instrumental in the
streamlining of horticulture-related policy in Tanzania. Prominent examples
include the revised Pesticides Registration Protocol and the improved Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Inspectorate System. Other contributions include TAHA’s lobbying
efforts with the national government, which have yielded two important successes:
the removal of the 18% VAT on airfreight and the reinstatement of the tax exemption
on deemed capital goods.
Producer and consumer prices
TAHA hired commission agents in the various vegetable zones in Tanzania to collect
prices and demand trends. They submit this information daily to the TAHA office
where it is processed and the results are circulated to farmers and buyers by SMS. The
main factors that determine the cost price of vegetables at the farm gate are agro-input
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