Tanzania targets agricultural resilience in new Sh1.2 trillion budget

Development projects will receive Sh1.011 trillion, down from Sh1.033 trillion, while recurrent expenditure is projected to rise by Sh15.4 billion to Sh231.28 billion.

Presenting the budget in Parliament yesterday, the minister for Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, said the 2025/26 plan will retain six strategic priorities but increase the number of specific interventions from 27 to 31.

Mr Bashe outlined key areas including value addition, research, irrigation development, mechanisation, financial inclusion, and food security.

He said the ministry plans to construct a medical supplies factory using cotton, establish a cotton industrial park in Simiyu, and build a bioscience research centre and gene bank.

“The initiative will reduce medical cotton and tobacco packaging imports, saving $17 million and reducing reliance on foreign cotton-based medical supplies and threads used in tobacco production,” he said.

“Installation of tissue culture labs at all Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) centres for seedling production and construction of 1,000 subsidised service centres for agricultural machinery are among the major interventions,” he added.

The budget also proposes expanding irrigation infrastructure in the Bugwema, Ngono, and Rufiji valleys, and implementing a water supply project from Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika to benefit 12 regions, 69 districts, 192 wards, and 943 villages.

Other focus areas include value-addition plants through cooperatives, a tobacco processing facility in Tabora, a cashew industrial park, and an aircraft for aerial agricultural services.

The ministry also intends to establish an equity and guarantee fund at the Tanzania Cooperative Bank and is in discussions with the Ministry of Finance to introduce tax reforms to protect local agricultural products, especially edible oils.

Strategic production targets include increasing output of key crops from 1.45 million to 2.22 million tonnes, boosting food crop yields from 22 million to 23 million tonnes, and raising self-sufficiency to 130 percent.

Other goals include raising agricultural export value from $3.54 billion to $4 billion and expanding irrigation coverage to 1.2 million hectares.

Research and seed development

Mr Bashe said the ministry will continue investing in seed research, including constructing a bioscience centre at TARI Ilonga and a seed bank at TARI Selian.

The ministry also plans to finalise bottle-method seedling production laboratories and conduct research on 56 seed varieties.

He said his docket targets producing 655.24 tonnes of foundation seeds for strategic crops and preserving 360 indigenous seed varieties.

Additionally, the minister said 2,121 hectares of irrigation infrastructure will be developed at research farms.

Irrigation infrastructure

Through the National Irrigation Commission (NIRC), he said the ministry will implement 768 projects, including dam construction at Mbakiamtuli and Ngorongo in the Rufiji Basin, with a combined capacity of 57 million cubic metres to irrigate 64,800 hectares.

Further developments according to him, will occur in the Ngono and Bugwema river basins covering 22,770 hectares.

“The ministry will also conduct feasibility studies and initiate construction to harness water from Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika,” he said.

“Construction and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes will cover 219,608 hectares. We’ll also construct 47 dams with a combined capacity of 813.8 million cubic metres,” he added.

According to him, plans are underway to design eight additional basin schemes and prepare 65 new dam projects.

He told Parliament that the ministry will establish a land management system for farms including Membe, Bugwema, Madibira, and Lumpungu, and acquire the 2,575-hectare Mbarali Estate to be allocated to smallholder farmers.

He said the NIRC will construct Dudumizi and Mambi dams on the estate.

Mechanisation drive

To boost mechanisation, Mr Bashe said the ministry plans to establish 1,000 service centres for agricultural equipment and procure 10,000 machines—including tractors, power tillers, harvesters, and dryers.

He said a national mechanisation centre will support land preparation, dam excavation, and operator training and that about 500 machine operators will be trained in partnership with CAMARTEC (Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and Rural Technology) and VETA (Vocational Education and Training Authority), over a three-year period.

Revival of traditional cash crops

Mr Bashe said the government remains committed to revitalising traditional cash crops, noting that cotton production is expected to rise from 149,361 to 400,000 tonnes, coffee from 81,366 to 85,000 tonnes, and cashew nuts from 528,264 to 700,000 tonnes.

“Tobacco output is projected to increase from 160,000 to 200,000 tonnes. The ministry will also register 91,000 cocoa farmers and distribute one million seedlings in Tanga, Kigoma, Kagera, and Morogoro regions,” he said.

“Avocado exports will rise from 35,627 to 40,000 tonnes through the distribution of 2.1 million seedlings, while wheat production is expected to grow from 118,521 to 300,000 tonnes,” he added.

He urged local processors to prioritise locally grown wheat under existing arrangements with the Cereals and Other Produce Regulatory Authority (COPRA).

Mr Bashe announced that the government will assess investors who failed to operate privatised tea factories, and return them to farmers in line with existing laws and ensure productive use of the facilities.

Sugar and edible oil

According to the minister, Tanzania is targeting 7.2 million tonnes of sugarcane and 700,000 tonnes of domestic sugar production.

He said although the country still imports 150,000 tonnes of industrial sugar annually, local production of table sugar is steadily improving.

“The government will reform the sugar import system to favour domestic producers, and three new factories are planned for Tanga, including one at the Port of Tanga,” he said.

On edible oils, Mr Bashe said production currently stands at 396,335 tonnes against a demand of 650,000 tonnes—leaving a deficit of 253,665 tonnes.

To address this, he said the ministry plans to produce 2,150 tonnes of high-quality sunflower seeds under a subsidy programme and distribute 10 million oil palm seedlings.

He said support will also be extended to small-scale processors in sunflower and oil palm industries.

The government will continue working with the Ministry of Finance to review tax policies, including raising import levies on wheat and edible oil to protect domestic producers.

Youth and women empowerment (BBT initiative)

He said Agriculture Input Trust Fund (AGITF), in partnership with Tanzania Cooperative Bank, will launch a special financing window offering guarantees, direct loans and equity funding.

According to him, the $35 million fund is backed by AfDB, noting that the government will also inject Sh17 billion to support Sh51 billion in low-interest loans to farmers, saying talks are underway to open a government account at the bank.

Under the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) initiative, he said the ministry will develop the 20,000-acre Mapogolo farm in Chunya District (Mbeya), which includes housing, irrigation, and storage infrastructure.

Additional plans include building eight warehouses at Chinangali and Mlazo/Ndogowe youth farms in Dodoma, installing a 27-kilometre electric fence at the area, and constructing a 1,000-tonne cold storage facility.

He said local governments will also support smallholder irrigation, youth and women’s access to finance, and implementation of BBT capital initiatives.

Food security and storage

Furthermore, Mr Bashe said the government targets increasing national food storage capacity to three million tonnes by 2030.

“This will involve completing 165,000 tonnes of ongoing storage projects and constructing an additional 300,000-tonne capacity across Songea, Makambako, Songwe, Shinyanga, and Dodoma,” he said.

“We will also strengthen the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) to procure directly from farmers and promote fortified food consumption to combat malnutrition across the country,” he said.

Market access and ICT integration

According to him, the budget will fund infrastructure upgrades to enhance access to both domestic and international agricultural markets.

He said emphasis will be placed on value addition, partnerships with the private sector, improving access to finance, and ensuring laboratory standards meet international benchmarks.

Furthermore, he said the ministry plans to promote cooperative development and expand the use of ICT across agricultural value chains.