An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Tanzania

For the purposes of the seed market, the country
could be broadly divided into three zones, namely,
Northern, Central, and Southern. The Northern Zone,
centered around the Arusha-Moshi regions, is a lowmedium
altitude and has a bimodal rainfall pattern. It
is a significant agricultural area with maize as an important
crop, and virtually all the seed companies are
based here. The Central Zone is semiarid and produces
more sorghum than maize. The Southern Highlands
Zone, with a mid-high altitude and unimodal rainfall,
is a high-potential agricultural area covering approximately
45% of the maize area in Tanzania.
Apart from these main zones, the coastal strip from
Tanga southwards and extending inwards to Morogoro
also produces some maize. The western areas along
the rift valley form a productive strip connecting to the
Southern Highlands. In addition to maize, the other
crops of significance are: sorghum, millet, pulses, rice,
and wheat. The minor crops are: groundnuts, sunflower,
and sesame. Table III.1 shows the overall average potential
annual seed market for the major crops. Cash
crops include coffee, tea, cashews, tobacco, and cotton.
An Assessment of the Seed Market
Table III.1. Crop Area Planted and Seed Requirements
a. 1,500,000-2,000,000 ha.
Source: Derived from industry and MAFS’ data.
Organizations involved in the seed industry.
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Organizations Involved in the Seed Market
Public Sector Organizations—The public sector
is involved in research and variety development, production
of prebasic (breeder) and basic (foundation)
seed, informal seed production, regulation, and certification
and control.
Research Institutions—The Selian Agricultural
Research Institute (SARI), Arusha, mostly caters to the
needs of the northern part of the country, while the
Southern Highlands are served by the Uyole Agricultural
Research Institute in Mbeya. Both these Institutes
have maize as their main research crop. The other agricultural
research institutes (ARIs) and their main areas
of research are:
Ilonga in Morogoro—Cereals and grain legumes.
Mulingano in Tanga—Soils.
Tumbi in Tabora—Tobacco and farming systems.
Ukiriguru in Mwanza—Cotton.
Maruku in Bukoba—Coffee and bananas.