From zero to billions: How Tanzanian farmers are turning the soil into gold

By Doreen Mangesho

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working across Tanzania’s agricultural landscape, it’s this: opportunity doesn’t always come dressed in suits and corner offices. Sometimes, it comes with dirt under your nails and a dream in your heart.

For decades, farming was seen as something you did when you had no other option. A backup plan. A fallback. A last resort. But that story is changing—rapidly. From the ridges of Rungwe to the plains of Manyara, from lush Kilimanjaro to sun-drenched Singida, farmers are rising. They’re not waiting for change. They are becoming the change.

Starting with one acre, one goat, one borrowed jembe—men, women, and youth are transforming humble beginnings into billion-shilling enterprises. They are no longer invisible. They are engine behind Tanzania’s food systems, the backbone of our economy, and increasingly, the architects of their own prosperity.

And this is no longer a quiet revolution.

Billions of shillings are moving through agriculture every year—from maize in Mbeya to sunflowers in Singida, from rice in Morogoro to coffee in Kagera. But behind those billions are something far more powerful than numbers: stories. Stories of young people who refused to be defined by unemployment. Stories of women who turned borrowed land into generational wealth. Stories of families who chose vision over despair.

This is not just about resilience. This is about reinvention.

The kind of reinvention that says, “I may not have much, but I’ll start with what I have.” The kind that understands that real transformation doesn’t always begin in boardrooms, but in backyards. In village meetings. In seeds planted with faith and watered with hustle.

But even the strongest seed needs the right soil—and that soil is access.

Access to finance.

Access to markets.

Access to knowledge, technology, and infrastructure.

That’s why platforms like PASS Trust are game-changers. They’re not giving handouts; they’re building bridges. PASS is helping thousands of farmers across Tanzania access credit, lease modern farming equipment, and receive agribusiness training that turns potential into performance. By de-risking agricultural loans and linking farmers with financial institutions, PASS is taking ideas off paper and into production. Smallholders are now not just producing—they’re competing.

They’re becoming suppliers to processors, exporters of niche crops, and leaders of cooperatives. They’re not just feeding their families; they’re feeding cities. They’re not just building homes; they’re building brands.

And this shift is attracting a new generation.

Young Tanzanians are returning to the land—not out of desperation, but out of decision. They see farming not as backward, but as bold. Not as tradition, but as transformation. They’re using mobile apps to track crop prices, drones to monitor farms, and digital wallets to manage earnings. They’re turning every harvest into a strategic move.

To the unemployed graduate, the single mother, the school leaver, the village youth with ambition but no capital: look again at the land.

Look again at your hands.

This country is not just rich in minerals or wildlife—it is rich in people who refuse to give up.

Farming is not the past. It is the future.

A future of green innovation, of climate-smart practices, of agribusiness excellence.

But we must keep investing—not only in inputs, but in people. In training, infrastructure, technology, and policy. We must value farmers not just as producers, but as entrepreneurs, problem solvers, and nation builders.

Because when farmers rise, the whole country rises.

Today, resilience is paying off—not just in shillings, but in dignity, purpose, and legacy. And tomorrow? The soil will keep turning. The hands will keep working. And the dreams will keep growing.

From zero to billions—this is the Tanzanian farmer’s story.

It’s not just inspiring.

It’s unstoppable.

Doreen Mangesho is the Director of Finance and Administration at Private Agriculture Sector Support (PASS) Trust