Sustaining Livelihoods through Organic Agriculture in Tanzania - UMB

organic crops from Tanzania are in the European Union, although some go to the
United States and the growing Middle Eastern market.
Whilst certified organic farms produce almost exclusively for the European market,
Tanzania also has a small but growing domestic market, particularly in the light of
pesticide poisonings. There is a rising awareness of the benefits of better quality food
and also possible links between healthy organic foods and some alleviation of the
effects of HIV/AIDS.
In addition to a few dedicated outlets, several of the larger supermarket chains stock
organic products. The large majority of organic customers are foreigners including
expatriates and tourists, although there is also a market amongst the wealthy urban
Tanzanian elite and middle classes, particularly for medical reasons.
Non-certified or informal organic production, on the other hand, has been practised in
Tanzania for centuries. There is a history of low-input traditional farming in Tanzania
and the majority of production of food crops such as millet, sorghum, rice, maize,
food legumes, roots, tubers, plantain and fruits are under low-external input
agriculture (Altieri, 2002; in Scialabba & Hattam, 2002; Harris et al., 1998).
Traditional farmers have found ways of improving soil structure, water-holding
capacity and nutrient and water availability without the use of artificial inputs, such as
intercropping grains and legumes. It has been estimated that in Africa 98% of all
cowpeas are grown in polycultural systems (Dover & Talbot, 1987).
Although it may not be recognised as such, organic production is already thought to
be feeding the majority of people across East Africa, especially those living outside
large conurbations who mainly eat from their own gardens and who, being commonly
averse to applying artificial inputs to their own food crops, mainly eat naturally,
organically-produced food (Taylor, 2006). The average use of chemical fertilisers is
estimated to be less that one kg per ha per year, which implies that most of the land is
never fertilised (Scialabba & Hattam, 2002).
For these reasons, agricultural production is often called organic “by default”
although the term is slightly misleading since many of these systems are not fully
complying with formal organic standards of production. Furthermore, farmers in
traditional systems often use isolated sustainable agricultural techniques,
incorporating ‘specific organic soil fertility enhancement or pest control techniques
without the farming system as a whole being organic’ (Harris et al., 1998: 2). Thus
organic farming differs from many traditional systems by aiming ‘for the entire farm
to be managed as a coherent system’ (Lockeretz & Stopes, 2000) and therefore
offering an integrated approach to soil fertility and crop protection management.
5.4 Modus Operandi of organic agriculture in Tanzania
External certifiers that operate in the country include IMO/Naturland, EcoCert and
Krav. In the past the Soil Association has worked in Tanzania. The first national
certification body, TanCert, has formulated and now applies two standards: one for
the national market and the other for the export market.
Altogether three organic standards exist in Tanzania, including:
1. a standard for local markets
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