and warehouse collateral <strong>for</strong> facilitat<strong>in</strong>g the purchase of gra<strong>in</strong>s at the harvest time. All these improvements will go a long way <strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g the prices received by farmers. To safeguard aga<strong>in</strong>st collusion among traders, the MAFS should <strong>in</strong>stall an <strong>in</strong>telligence and monitor<strong>in</strong>g system and use anti-trust laws to prevent such collusions. Through tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and technical assistance, producer associations should be encouraged to take a lead <strong>in</strong> conduct<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>for</strong> farmers, ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and dissem<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g market prices, <strong>in</strong>stall<strong>in</strong>g and operat<strong>in</strong>g agro-process<strong>in</strong>g facilities, barga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g good prices <strong>for</strong> <strong>in</strong>puts and outputs, and encourag<strong>in</strong>g sav<strong>in</strong>gs and bank<strong>in</strong>g habits among farmers. Promot<strong>in</strong>g cross-border trade and trad<strong>in</strong>g among regional blocks like the EAC and COMESA will further enhance opportunities <strong>for</strong> export<strong>in</strong>g firms to trade products <strong>in</strong> which <strong>Tanzania</strong> has a comparative advantage. Improv<strong>in</strong>g rural roads and other <strong>in</strong>frastructures will contribute significantly to the development of crop output markets. 10. Infrastructure Development—Strengthen<strong>in</strong>g of Railway Capacity The poor condition of feeder roads <strong>in</strong> rural areas adds significantly to the transportation cost of supply<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>puts, especially fertilizers, <strong>in</strong> rural areas. Investment <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g and ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g good roads <strong>in</strong> rural areas should receive priority <strong>in</strong> the development budget. As mentioned earlier, 9 USAID has devoted resources <strong>for</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g feeder roads <strong>in</strong> the Southern Highlands. There is a need to develop feeder roads <strong>in</strong> other parts of the country. However, <strong>in</strong> the short to medium term, the government should pay attention to strengthen<strong>in</strong>g the railway capacity on its railway l<strong>in</strong>es because over long distances, railways are much cheaper than road transport. From Dar, the railway l<strong>in</strong>e goes <strong>in</strong> both north/east and south/west directions. However, on both routes the availability of the “covered” wagons is a serious problem. Transport<strong>in</strong>g fertilizers or seed <strong>in</strong> an “uncovered wagon” poses the risk of <strong>in</strong>security and losses by theft and pilferage. Such risk discourages the dealers from us<strong>in</strong>g railways <strong>for</strong> shipp<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>puts and <strong>for</strong>ces them to rely on costly road transport. The GOT and donors should make an <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g the supply of wagons and storage capacity at railway stations. <strong>An</strong>other area that needs attention is the improvement of a truck<strong>in</strong>g fleet <strong>in</strong> the country. Non-availability of trucks can add significantly to transportation costs. 22 <strong>Action</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> Matrices <strong>for</strong> Fertilizer, Seed, and CPP <strong>Markets</strong> In addition to the market development ef<strong>for</strong>ts proposed above, there are certa<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>put specific measures that should be implemented to strengthen the function<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>in</strong>put markets. Tables 2, 3, and 4 summarize such measures <strong>for</strong> fertilizer, seed, and CPP markets, respectively. V. Institutional Arrangements Holistic Approach This action plan <strong>in</strong>cludes several measures to strengthen the function<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>in</strong>put markets <strong>in</strong> <strong>Tanzania</strong>. These measures deal with the issues related to both the demandside and supplyside of the market equation. While it may not be possible to implement all of these measures <strong>in</strong> a s<strong>in</strong>gle project due to resource constra<strong>in</strong>ts, it is essential that an optimum sequenc<strong>in</strong>g and phas<strong>in</strong>g scheme be developed so that the synergy result<strong>in</strong>g from various measures could be realized. In this context, while develop<strong>in</strong>g prioritization, special attention should be paid to the measures deal<strong>in</strong>g with policy re<strong>for</strong>m, human capital development, access to f<strong>in</strong>ance and market <strong>in</strong><strong>for</strong>mation, and en<strong>for</strong>cement of regulatory frameworks. These measures should be implemented <strong>in</strong> a holistic manner because re<strong>for</strong>ms <strong>in</strong> one area are directly l<strong>in</strong>ked to re<strong>for</strong>ms <strong>in</strong> another area, and their jo<strong>in</strong>t implementation will create synergistic benefits (Figure 4). Figure 4. The Market Development Process
Table 2. <strong>Tanzania</strong> <strong>Action</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> Matrix: Fertilizers 23