MPs back agriculture budget, urge focus on processing, organic farming

Dar es Salaam. Members of Parliament have commended the government for scaling up investment in agriculture under the 2025/26 national budget, while calling for deeper reforms in crop processing, fertiliser production, and a shift towards organic farming.

Lawmakers heaped praise on Friday, June 20, 2025, in Parliament in Dodoma during the debate on the Sh56.49 trillion budget tabled last week by Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba.

Special Seats MP Fatma Toufiq (CCM) commended the government’s commitment to creating a more investment-friendly environment in the sunflower oil sector, urged greater support for peanut farming and processing.

“We are witnessing real progress in sunflower oil processing, which will help reduce our reliance on imported edible oils,” she said during the parliamentary budget debate.

She added, “However, in Dodoma, we also grow a lot of groundnuts. I urge the government to improve peanut seed varieties to boost production and to consider establishing peanut oil processing industries. This would help bridge the edible oil deficit and cut down imports.”

Tabora North lawmaker, Mr Athumani Maige (CCM), focused on agricultural inputs and the tobacco sector.

He credited government subsidies for fertilisers and the lifting of restrictive crop allocation quotas for revitalising tobacco production in his constituency.

“In the past, you couldn’t grow tobacco without being assigned a specific quota. But now, we farm on our own initiative. We currently have 12 active buyers, which reflects the growing market strength,” he said.

Mr Maige also stressed the need to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) on pesticides, calling it a financial burden on farmers, and appealed for continued support in providing subsidised inputs.

Special Seats MP Asha Juma (CCM) called for more sustainable farming methods, advocating for a gradual transition away from chemical imports towards organic agriculture: “Let’s protect our land and adopt organic farming.”

“If we reduce reliance on imported chemicals and shift to organic practices, we will safeguard the environment and enhance long-term soil fertility,” he added.

The MPs' enthusiasm was buoyed by robust performance indicators highlighted in the 2025/26 budget.

According to Finance Minister Nchemba, the agriculture sector growth rose from 2.7 percent in 2022 to 4.0 percent in 2024.

Food crop production climbed from 17.1 million tonnes in 2021/22 to over 22.8 million tonnes in 2023/24.

Fertiliser production also increased sharply—from 32,239 tonnes in 2021/22 to 158,628 tonnes in 2024/25.

As a result, Tanzania’s national food self-sufficiency climbed to 128 percent, just two percent behind the 130 percent threshold.

To maintain this momentum, the government proposed a new tax measure including VAT exemptions on key farm implements—including tractor tyres, dam liners, forks, rakes, and axes.

“This measure is intended to provide relief to the agricultural sector and to ensure the exemptions are used as intended,” said Dr Nchemba in his budget address.

He also announced a proposal to grant a one-year, zero percent duty remission on raw materials used in domestic fertiliser production. These materials had previously attracted import duties of up to 25 percent.

“This initiative aims to spur growth in local fertiliser manufacturing,” he said.

Since 2021, the government has allocated Sh708.6 billion to fertiliser subsidies, effectively halving the retail price per bag for farmers across the country.