Agricultural reform emerges as Tanzania's poverty game changer

This was revealed recently during a public lecture at the Tengeru Institute of Community Development (TICD), organised in collaboration with the Public-Private Partnership Centre (PPPC).

Themed: Public-Private Partnerships as a Catalyst for Development and Opportunities in the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP IV) and Vision 2050, the lecture brought together students, lecturers, staff and the general public.

Presiding over the event, PPPC executive director, Mr David Kafulila, said agriculture, which employs 60 percent of the population and contributes 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), must move beyond current productivity levels to drive Tanzania towards a trillion-dollar economy by 2050.

He said transforming the sector could not be achieved through government funding alone, noting that although the agricultural budget had risen from Sh294 billion in 2021/22 to Sh1.105 trillion in 2026/27, the investment required to irrigate three million hectares remained beyond the state’s capacity.

“To cut poverty by half, the agricultural sector needs eight to 10 percent annual growth, which requires an investment of $20 billion in irrigation for three million hectares by 2030,” he said.

“This is impossible for the government alone and requires private sector participation to foster manufacturing, jobs and welfare,” he added.

Mr Kafulila said public-private partnerships (PPPs) could help attract capital to develop commercially viable projects ‘off the balance sheet’, preserving tax revenue for social services that lack commercial appeal but remain vital to development.

He said an inclusive economy must prioritise women, who comprise 70 percent of the workforce in agriculture and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). “When policymakers talk about inclusivity, they are looking at carrying the woman. If she is supported, the economy becomes inclusive,” he said.

He cited studies showing that women reinvest 90 percent of their income in their families, compared with 35 percent for men.

“By helping a woman, you have helped the family,” he added, saying support for female-led agricultural productivity was a direct path to reducing family poverty.

Turning to the next generation, Mr Kafulila warned that Tanzania’s population growth would become an asset only if young people acquired skills rather than academic certificates alone.

He said 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2050 have not yet been created, citing a World Bank study that suggests that a young person with vocational skills could have 15 times the economic impact of an unproductive degree holder.

To compete in an era dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), he urged students to master the ‘Global Triad’ of diligence, knowledge and integrity.

“Integrity builds your value because it builds trust. You can be hired even if you have less knowledge because you are trusted. But if you have knowledge without integrity, you will fail,” he cautioned.

Mr Kafulila also outlined the ‘trillion-dollar marathon’ to move Tanzania into upper-middle-income status with a per capita income of $7,000.

He said this required a ‘smaller government’ focused on policy and a ‘larger’ private sector driving welfare.

Addressing the ‘managerial efficiency gap’, he said top nations derive 25 percent of their wealth from institutional efficiency, while Africa often achieves only five percent.

He suggested PPPs could help recruit ‘top-tier’ management talent to reduce losses attributed to public sector inefficiencies in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Knowledge is the global currency,” said Mr Kafulila, urging Tanzania to prioritise the quality of its people over natural resources.

TICD acting deputy director (Planning, Finance and Administration), Ms Janeth Zemba, said the institute had incorporated PPPs into its curriculum.

She said the move would ensure graduates could link the public and private sectors with citizens at different levels of development.

“Following these improvements, TICD programmes now enable students to understand how to prepare viable project proposals and attract local and foreign investors,” said Ms Zemba.

She said the training supported President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s efforts to strengthen the private sector as an engine of economic growth.

Ms Zemba said the modules were aligned with the National Development Vision 2050, under which many social and infrastructure projects are expected to be implemented through strategic partnerships rather than relying on the government budget.

Student government president Martin Mashaka questioned how PPPs in health and education would protect the interests of the majority.

Lecturer Jackson Mhoho proposed that Mr Kafulila’s address be converted into policy briefs, saying the Sh90 trillion economy would need lessons from previous development plans to reach the $1 trillion target.

An officer identified as Mr Mkanjiro, called for changes in public sector management, suggesting managers move from ‘permanent and pensionable’ terms to target-based contracts to strengthen accountability and performance.

Responding, Mr Kafulila said Tanzanian law provides that a PPP project remains public property before, during and after a contract, distinguishing the arrangement from privatisation.