An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Tanzania

uted to the preparation of action plans include the European
Union (EU), the Department for International
Development (DFID), The World Bank, the Directorate
General for Development Cooperation (DGIS),
Sasakawa-Global 2000 (SG 2000) and national USAID
offices. While differing from one country to the other,
collaborating institutions involved in the preparation
of action plans included International Institute for Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), West African Rice Development
Association (WARDA), Development Alternatives,
Incorporated (DAI), Masdar Technology Limited
(MTL), SG 2000, and the national ministries of
agriculture.
Agricultural Policy—Recent Developments and
New Initiatives
To further the gains in economic growth made under
the economic recovery programs of the 1980s, the
GOT has adopted the Tanzania Development Vision
2025 (TDV 2025). The primary objective is to reduce
poverty significantly by 2025 through ensuring basic
food security, improving income levels, and expanding
export earnings. The Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper (PRSP) 2000 provides the framework for the
TDV. The PRSP identifies agricultural development as
critical to poverty reduction due to its substantial contribution
to GDP, the high incidence of rural poverty,
and the fact that it is the main source of income for the
majority of the rural population. The poverty reduction
strategies will be implemented through the Rural
Development Strategy (RDS), the ASDS, and other
development programs. The RDS has the overall objective
of reducing poverty through multisectoral interventions
and local government reforms. The complementary
ASDS is the blueprint guiding the
government’s efforts to address the problems in the
agricultural sector and move toward agricultural transformation.
It seeks to complement the ongoing economic
reforms with a sector-specific action to enhance
their impact on farm incomes and poverty reduction in
rural areas. The Agricultural Sector Development Program
(ASDP) includes many instruments for
operationalizing ASDS.
Tanzania’s agricultural transformation cannot occur
without increased use of modern productivity-enhancing
inputs (fertilizers, improved seed, and CPPs)
and better management practices. This approach is embodied
in the ASDS. However, since improved tech-
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nologies are yet to be adopted by the majority of smallholder
farmers in Tanzania, the ASDS will “focus on
improving the dissemination of viable farm production
technologies to smallholder farmers and livestock keepers
as a matter of priority. Improving agricultural productivity
and commercializing farm production among
smallholder farmers is the linchpin of the ASDS.” Accordingly,
the priority areas for the ASDS with respect
to agricultural inputs are:
• Strengthening the institutional framework for managing
agricultural development, particularly defining
public and private sector roles.
• Creating a favorable environment to increase private
sector participation in agricultural development.
• Clarifying public and private roles in improving support
services.
• Improving the marketing of inputs and outputs to
enhance net farm returns in the short-run and commercialize
agriculture in the long run.
The Participatory Agricultural Development and
Empowerment Program (PADEP) is one of the instruments
used by the ASDP for the implementation of the
ASDS by supporting agricultural development and capacity
building. It will be gradually implemented in 28
districts and targets smallholder households in 840 villages.
The project has two main components: the Community
Agricultural Development Subprojects (CADS)
component and the Capacity Building and Institutional
Strengthening (CBIS) component. The CADS component
consists of Community Investment Subprojects
(CIS) and Farmer Group Investment Subprojects
(FGIS) whereby communities and farmers’ groups will
have the primary responsibility for implementing participatory
investment activities supported by the project.
The activities include identification and planning of
subprojects, implementation of technical recommendations,
local procurement of inputs, contracting of
service providers, and monitoring and evaluation. Possible
subprojects include agricultural investments and
technologies and input-output marketing. To reduce the
risks involved in adopting the new improved technologies
needed to implement the subprojects, purchases
of goods and services by communities and farmers’
groups will be complemented by direct transfers of financial
resources to them from the project on a matching-grant
basis. For CIS, beneficiaries will contribute
at least 20% of the total subproject costs and the project