An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Tanzania

Excellent varieties have been produced that, in the
past, have been passed on to Tanzania Seed Company
(TANSEED). Since the collapse of TANSEED, there
is no clear pathway for these varieties. ARIs produce
mostly prebasic/breeder seed and basic seed, which are
sold to the Foundation Seed Farms. In addition, some
certified seed of hybrid maize is also produced at Uyole.
Foundation Seed Farms—There are five Foundation
Seed Farms (FSFs) in the country. They are:
Arusha Seed Farm—Arusha.
Msimba Seed Farm—Kilosa [Morogoro].
Dabaga Seed Farm—Iringa.
Kilangali Seed Farm—Kilosa, mostly for rice.
Mwele Seed Farm—Tanga.
These FSFs produce various classes of seed, mostly
basic seed on contract to NGOs and seed companies,
and some certified seed, which is sold to surrounding
farmers. The bulk of the seed now produced is for the
quality declared seeds (QDS) scheme funded by the
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA),
some of which may also be used by companies and
NGOs. But the activities of these farms are seriously
hampered by poor funding, central control from MAFS,
lack of business and marketing skills, and low staff
morale.
The way forward for these farms is not clear at the
moment. At one time, two of the five farms—Kilangali
and Mwele—were slated for privatization, but later the
GOT changed its mind. It is said that no one came forward
or showed any interest to buy them. Now there is
talk of creating a new public organization called “The
National Seed Agency” based around the foundation
seed farms. Though modalities of this agency are still
being worked out, it is assumed that it will operate commercially
by producing and marketing seeds. The question
to be asked, however, is how will this agency avoid
the problems that beset TANSEED and other government-run
companies? Private companies are also worried
that government may use this agency to interfere
in the market through, say, selling subsidized seed.
There has been no effort to inform the private sector
about these developments and most stakeholders have
no clue.
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Commercial Seed Production—In addition to the
FSFs mentioned above, the agricultural research institutes
(ARI—Selian, ARI—Uyole, and ARI—Ilonga)
also produce commercial seed of various crops including
maize hybrids. Some of this seed may be regarded
as certified and some is informal, but it is difficult to
distinguish between the two. It is possible for these
institutions to exploit their position so they do not have
to go through the rigorous certification system like the
private seed companies. Table III.2 shows the quantity
of seed produced by the Agricultural Research Institutes
and Foundation Seed Farms in 2001/02.
The sustainability of commercial seed production
by ARIs is not clear because funding for even the core
research work is inadequate and the institutes do not
have requisite skills in business and marketing. There
is no clearly defined role in seed production for ARIs
and directives, and funds from MAFS come in an ad
hoc manner. As a result, there is no proper marketing
strategy and some of the seed produced may be sold
below cost or even given out free. DANIDA has purified
and maintained all national released varieties under
the on-farm seed production component in Phase 1
and continue to do so for newly released varieties in
Phase 2 plus the ones where there might be problems
with the purity. It is not clear what will happen when
this support finally ends.
GOT, with support from DANIDA, is also involved
in QDS. According to the new Seed Act, 2003, and the
Rules and Regulations for QDS production, all who
work with on-farm seed production should follow the
same system, the QDS. Since QDS is in the Seed Act,
it may be regarded as a formal seed. The farmers have
to be selected, trained, and registered and the Tanzania
Official Seed Certification Agency (TOSCA) inspects
about 10% of the growers. However, DANIDA has
trained district inspectors in all areas of QDS (25 inspectors)
and the target is to have 100% inspection of
the seed.
Apart from FSFs, many of the growers are smallscale
farmers who sell to the neighboring farmers within
their villages. This is the underlying philosophy of the
MAFS/DANIDA scheme. A few farmers visited indicated
that they are having problems selling even the
little maize seed they produce (less than 500 kg), and