Tanzania’s Focus On Irrigation For Increased Production, Exports And Reduced Malnutrition

By AJ Muchoki

The latest major re-direction of Tanzania’s agriculture sector to keep up the pace of being the regional bread basket is actualizing strengthening irrigation as a priority and reducing rainfall dependence. The nation’s 2,773 irrigation schemes are being revitalized and new ones will be created with the goal of reaching over 29 million hectares of sustainable irrigation eventually.

To achieve the above, Tanzania has made historic investments in the irrigation sector, which will guarantee bigger irrigation agriculture value chain uptake, involving the public and private sectors, according to the National Irrigation Commission Director General, Mr. Raymond Mndolwa.

Tanzania’s FY 2022/2023 budget has allocated Shs 420 billion (USD 181 million) for the construction of irrigation schemes infrastructure, about an 805 per cent increase compared with the Sh46.5 billion (USD 20 million) set aside in FY 2021/2022.

Some of the expected outcomes of the increased irrigation include reduced malnutrition (a menace despite Tanzania’s assured food security status) and the creation of employment for youths. Tanzania’s food demand was 4,835,101 MT (9,448,770 cereals and 5,386,331 non-cereal). The nation produced an excess of 3,830,116 MT of food (1,425,655 cereals and 2,404,461 non-cereals).

Irrigation for coping with climate change

The increased funding makes good the implementation of the Tanzania Agro-Industries Development Flagship, a government framework for mobilizing and coordinating investments towards agro-industrialization, which identifies irrigation as among the key supportive agro-industrial infrastructure.

AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) Tanzania Country Manager, Vianey Rweyendela, sees the acceleration of irrigation activities as a huge milestone in efforts to improve food systems to deliver a resilient, better nourished, and more prosperous nation with assured better outcomes for smallholder farmers.

“Irrigation greatly uplifts both food production and cash crops. In addition, other outcomes include reduced malnutrition. Farmers are able to grow crops that will help them attain a balanced diet year-round, “he said. Business development services providers supported by AGRA via various projects in Tanzania have been training farmers on smart irrigation for food system transformation during the implementation of key projects including Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA), Yieldwise Initiative, and the Competitive African Rice Initiative in East Africa (CARI-EA).

Smallholder farmers practicing improved agroecological agriculture and with access to irrigation were more assured of increased production and improved livelihoods, according to the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum – ESAFF Coordinator Joseph Mzinga. He hailed increased irrigation activities, which include the revitalization of old schemes. He noted that upscaling was paramount but should consider ensuring agroecological agriculture as small-scale farmers make a decent livelihood while being able to cope with climate change and numerous other challenges.

The great farmers’ awakening taking shape

“There is a great awakening among the general population throughout Tanzania about agriculture as a business.” More than ever, farmers want agriculture that is able to put money on their tables, “according to veteran banker Dr Betty Kwoko Mgimba. A dramatic increase in irrigation farming for smallholder farmers is going to be a game changer to improve the economic status of millions of farmers.

She noted that the dramatic increase in irrigation farming will lead to a dramatic increase in food production and export market share. “Tanzania needs to have globally competitive prices for grains and other produce.” The only way is to offer competitive prices, which often means lower prices at the farm gate. So farmers need to produce more and more to make more money. We also need to introduce more value additions as a nation for major crops. “We need to export more flour, starch, and a host of other products,” she noted.

For maize alone, for which Tanzania is a market leader in the East African Community, we can make over 50 products and capture the global market, she noted.

Irrigation making over 100 percent increased productivity

According to the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, irrigation is expected to ensure the country meets the demand for quality seeds of about 652,250 tonnes, on the road to position the East African nation as a global agriculture trade player. The current supply of quality seeds is 35,199 metric tonnes. The increase will enable the economy to retain and increase its status as the leading exporter of rice, maize, beans, cassava, soya, and a host of other crops, in East Africa.

The minister says Tanzania’s irrigation farming coverage in 2021/2022 was 727,280.6 hectares. In 2022/2023, it’s projected to rise to 822,285.6 hectares and reach 1,200,000 in 2025. The current area under irrigation is only 2.5 percent of the country’s total land suitable for irrigation agriculture and is equal to 60.6 percent of the goal of reaching 1,200,000 hectares by 2025.

Currently, the minister says over 4,363,683 farmers are using the current irrigation schemes, which has increased the productivity of rice, maize, onions, and tomatoes, among other crops. Rice productivity in the areas under irrigation has increased from an average of 2 tons per hectare to an