Download Agriculture and Rural Development

Agriculture and Rural
Development
• The agricultural and development sector is the
foundation of the Tanzania economy,
• accounting for 45% of total gross domestic product
(GDP) and over 70% of exports by value in 2002.
• Smallholder farmers (about 4.5 million farm families)
produce about 55% of total agricultural output
• and over 80% of the value of marketed cereals. The
smallholder farmers are the major producers of
• maize, sorghum, millet, cassava, rice, plantains and
pulses, as well as cash crops like coffee, cotton,
• tobacco and cashew
• Both the private and public sectors are involved
in estates agriculture, but the
• private sector is dominant in tea, sisal and
tobacco, while government estates are significant
producers
• of rice, wheat, sisal, sugar and beef. The
proportion of the population that depend on
agriculture as a
• source of livelihood is estimated at about 78%,
which is a slight reduction from about 83% in
1990.
• The economic reforms of the past two decades have
impacted on the agricultural sector growth,
• which during the 1970s had declined to less than 1%
per annum. By creating and enhancing producer
• and other market related incentives, the reforms led to
accelerated agricultural growth from 1% during
• 1976-1980 to 3% during 1980-1985, to 3.2% during
1986-1991, and to an average of 4% up to the turn
• of the millennium. Agricultural exports also expanded
as export crop production expanded, from just
• 1.8% during the 1980s to 7.7% during the 1990s.
Government’s National Agriculture
and Rural Development Sector
Strategy
• Tanzania’s agriculture and rural development
sector policies and strategies have evolved
• overtime with the changes in the political and
macro-economic policy environments. This
evolutionary
• process can be broadly divided into three
periods
• (a) from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s,
• (b) from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and
(c) from the mid 1990s to the present time
(December 2004).
• From
• the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s Tanzania pursued policies towards
“African Socialism”, enshrined in
• the 1967 Arusha Declaration, which put great emphasis on fighting
poverty, ignorance and disease.
• The cornerstone of the policy was the UJAAMA village – a rural agriculture
collectivization
• programme aimed at modernization of the agricultural sector and making
social services more
• accessible to the rural dwellers3. The policy initially encouraged
progressive farmers to expand with
• the hope that others would follow their example, but it turned out that
only the few who were
• recipients of state funds benefited and there was little impact on reducing
rural poverty.
• While the UJAAMA policy had some positive impacts,
especially in the political and social
• spheres4, it had failed in the economic sphere. The
policy down-played the role of the private sector
• and of the individuals in economic production and
trade since its ideological orientation was towards
• state controls and common ownership of productive
resources. The result was a build-up of
• disincentives among producers which led subsequently
to declining outputs and productivity in all
• sectors of the economy
• The process of economic reforms and liberalisation
began in 1986 only after the GOT had
• become convinced that economic recovery could only
come about with changes in economic
• management, namely the lifting of controls and
allowing free play to the incentives structure in order
• to remove distortions. Significant policy shifts were
therefore ushered during this period with the
• launching of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP),
which introduced reforms aimed at creating a
• competitive environment for agriculture, industry and
trade
• From the mid 1990s until the present time (end 2004),
Tanzania has achieved a significant
• improvement in macro-economic performance. GDP
growth has averaged 5.3% over the past five
• years (reaching 6.2% in 2002 and 5.6% in 2003) and
inflation has fallen to within single digits. Donor
• confidence, which had waned during the early to the
mid 1990s, and saw the reduction or suspension
• of some aid flows, was restored with the signing of the
Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility
• (ESAF) with the IMF in 1996, and opened the door for
inflows of aid and investments.