Partnering to Support Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania
By Elijah Mwashayenyi, Head of Knowledge Transfer for Africa, East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation
For the past year, East-West Seed Tanzania (EWSTZ) and East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT) have been collaborating as non-grantees with the USAID-funded Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija (Horticulture Productivity) Project to support smallholder farmers in southwestern Tanzania.
This relationship was formalized on 1 May 2024 with a Grant Under Contract (GUC) award from the Kilimo Tija project. The grant will support youth employment in the Iringa, Mbeya, and Morogoro regions, as well as Zanzibar, through an initiative called Transforming Tanzania’s Vegetable Markets. The involved parties met for an inception meeting in Moshi on 28 May 2024.
The Kilimo Tija project is implemented by ACDI/VOCA, a global nonprofit development organization that focuses on food security, economic prosperity, and social inclusion through locally driven market solutions. Working with diverse partners, ACDI/VOCA empowers people to succeed in the global economy and has been active in Tanzania since the 1970s.
Why the Southern Corridor and Zanzibar?
For a very long time, the Northern Highlands of the Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions have been getting the lion’s share of development projects in Tanzania, and it shows. The southwestern part of the country, often called the Southern Corridor, has been lagging behind, and yet there is so much potential.
For example, despite the conditions to grow a wide range of vegetables for both home use and commercial purposes, Iringa has the highest malnutrition rate (51%) in the country, against a national average of 34%. Meanwhile, Zanzibar, which has a historical focus on tourism, has embarked on an effort to diversify its economy, and horticulture has become one of the priority sectors. It is therefore not surprising that the Southern Corridor and Zanzibar are currently the focus of several organizations with an interest in promoting agriculture.
EWSTZ and EWS-KT are well positioned to implement this initiative due to their years of experience in the vegetable sector. The Tanzanian branch of East-West Seed was set up in 2008, focusing on seed production, marketing and promotion, and seed sales. Knowledge transfer was part and parcel of the promotion of EWS varieties. In partnership with Rijk Zwaan and Wageningen Plant Research, the company implemented a joint knowledge transfer project that trained over 48,000 farmers in best practices for vegetable farming, improving their incomes and livelihoods.
Realizing the need to intensify knowledge transfer in the Southern Corridor and northwestern Lake Zone, a fully fledged East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer team was formed in 2019 and deployed to Iringa and Kahama. Over the past 5 years, EWS-KT has helped key farmers establish 952 demonstration plots showcasing profitable and sustainable vegetable production methods, reaching over 65,000 farmers.
Our experience in Tanzania shows that there is immense potential to improve vegetable productivity, production, and marketing. A survey of farmer-managed demonstration farms in Tanzania indicates an average net profit of US$368.50 per crop cycle on 250-square-meter plots. A total of 182 demo plots were established with EWS-KT in 2023. Considering that most farmers plant a total of 0.5 hectares over the course of the year, this indicates a potential annual net profit per farmer of US$7,370 from adopting improved production practices.
Off to a Quick Start
Kilimo Tija, EWSTZ, and EWS-KT hit the ground running on this initiative, given their previous collaboration and the fact that some of the staff were already on the ground. This is advantageous, as the 3-year initiative requires expediting to reach the planned 8,450 farmers. With a special focus on youth (at least 60% of the farmers to be reached will be under age 35), the project seeks to make vegetable production an attractive business for young people, thereby offering viable alternative employment to them.
The 900 EWS-KT demos and 150 commercial demos planned under the initiative will showcase the profitability of the vegetable sector. The 60 agro-input suppliers (including village-based suppliers) who will be trained will ensure that farmers have last-mile access to quality seeds and accurate technical information.
Going Together
For the past 5 years, we have been itching to scale up our work in Tanzania. It is therefore good that we have partnered with Kilimo Tija in this regard. As the African proverb goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” No prizes for guessing that EWSTZ, EWS-KT, and Kilimo Tija have chosen to go far, and the people of Tanzania will benefit from this initiative.
This blog post was prepared under a grant funded by ACDI/VOCA under Cooperative Agreement/Grant No 72062122C00008 funded by USAID. The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views, analysis, or policies of ACDI/VOCA or USAID, nor does any mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by ACDI/VOCA or USAID.
