cases from tanzania - Sustainet

Sustainable agriculture: A pathway out of poverty for East Africa’s rural poor
Since 1993, the Kenyan government has undertaken a series of economic measures with the
assistance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Similar to Tanzania, the
government has eliminated price controls and import licensing, removed foreign exchange
controls, privatized a range of publicly owned companies, reduced the number of civil servants,
and introduced conservative fiscal and monetary policies.
Food security is of paramount importance to Kenyan development policy, as is strongly
implied in the country’s food policy document (Republic of Kenya, 1994), consecutive five
year plans, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (Government of Kenya, 2002).
Agricultural development strategies and poverty reduction
A conducive policy environment is vital to stimulate agricultural development. The agricultural
development strategies in Kenya and Tanzania are fairly similar. With the primary goal
of self-sufficiency in basic food needs, the focus of agricultural policy reforms in Kenya
and Tanzania has been to produce more food to enhance food security, and then to alleviate
poverty. In line with market and price deregulation, top priorities have been to improve
transportation and markets so as to increase people’s purchasing power and access to food.
Promoting private sector involvement in production, processing, storage, input supply and
marketing are also integral parts of the strategy. The private sector is supposed to take the
leading role in input delivery and purchases of farm produce. The government’s role is
confined to developing infrastructure, promoting supporting institutions, and monitoring
performance. Providing market information is an important area that is neglected by governments;
this gap is being filled in part by the private sector and NGOs.
Elements of the strategies include the following.
• Supporting agricultural research and extension and improving its effectiveness to
generate improved technologies in production, storage and processing. Although research
on plant and animal genetic improvement and cultural practices are usually in place, less
attention is given to post-harvest technologies. Research is also encouraged to develop
on- and off-farm storage and processing technologies to reduce post-harvest losses,
boost returns to farmers and traders, and to increase overall food availability.
• Improving rural infrastructure, including roads, market centres and storage facilities.
The market currently performs very poorly because of poor infrastructure, inadequate
organization of local marketing, and lack of storage facilities. Improving rural roads and
feeder roads in particular is critically important to improve market access, both nationally
and internationally. Rehabilitating or establishing physical marketing and storage facilities
for both farmers and traders can enhance exchange and increase competitiveness.
• Improving the collection and dissemination of market information so as to reach
farmers and traders in a timely way, and strengthening of cooperative societies to enable
them to compete in the market.
• Promotion of cross-border trade with neighbouring countries and overseas. More
focus is given to incentives for non-traditional export crops by liberalizing trade rules.
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