Transforming Tanzania’s Vegetable Markets

Context and Objective

Youth unemployment is a major concern in Tanzania. In the absence of readily available jobs, vegetable production and marketing offers a ready income opportunity for young people. Unfortunately, agriculture is seen by many youth as a sector where their parents have struggled to make ends meet, and vegetables are rarely promoted as a realistic and exciting business opportunity. Despite a growing demand for safe-to-eat, nutritious vegetables, farmers still experience unacceptably low yields, do not have access to good extension services, and lack knowledge on improved production practices as well as access to the range of quality inputs they need. 

To address these gaps, the Transforming Tanzania’s Vegetable Markets initiative will showcase better yields and solid economic evidence on the benefits of using better seed and improved farming practices. This will position vegetables as an attractive employment opportunity for smallholder farmers, especially youth, and will simultaneously catalyze growth of a competitive agro-input market. 

The aims of this initiative, which is part of the USAID-funded Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija (Horticulture Productivity) Project, are to sustainably increase economic opportunities for youth in the vegetable sector, improve their access to market information for greater market participation, and increase access to quality seeds for better productivity and business growth. 

Specifically, the initiative will work with 8,450 farmers (60% youth) to strengthen their farming skills so they can be fully employed in the vegetable sector. Training in vegetable production will include farm planning, marketing, and climate-smart technical skills and knowledge covering land preparation through harvest.

To build employment opportunities beyond direct vegetable production, farmers will also be encouraged to explore other income-generating activities in the vegetable sector, such as becoming seedling producers, agro-input dealers, village-based aggregators or processors, or providers of skilled labor and crop management techniques like trellising and raised-bed creation. Under the initiative, 30 new farmers will be established as seedling producers.

To ensure continued transfer of vegetable farming knowledge, EWS-KT will train 30 government extension officers in good agricultural practices through a training-of-trainers curriculum. The government extension officers will also gain practical experience by supervising 180 of the 900 total knowledge transfer demos established. Further, the initiative will work closely with 60 agro-input dealers to increase their capacity to provide their customers with accurate technical information, including on responsible handling of chemicals.

Expected Outcomes 

• Through improved knowledge and skills in profitable and climate-resilient farming practices, informed decision-making, better business planning, and access to quality seeds, farmers will achieve higher yields and incomes.
  • 450 key farmers (60% youth/50% women) will on average generate an additional TZS 1 million per year
  • 8,000 trained farmers (60% youth/50% women) will on average generate an additional TZS 250,000 per year
  • An additional 500 metric tons of vegetables will be produced annually

EWS-KT Partners

Funding partner: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija (Horticulture Productivity) Project

Implementing partner: ACDI/VOCA (lead)

Project Period

2 May 2024 – 31 March 2027

Location

Tanzania: Iringa Region, Mbeya Region, Morogoro Region, and Zanzibar