Host Country

Tanzania

Highlights

Average harvests of farmers increased up to threefold, by more productive crop types coupled with innovative but low-cost irrigation techniques.

Budget

African Development Bank's financial assistance amounting to US$1 million.

Beneficiaries

Seven districts and 31 villages.

Commencement Date

2002

Background

• Tanzania, located in East Africa with a population of over 35 million is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its abundance of natural resources in the form of diamonds, gold, iron and natural gas.
• The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for over half of the GDP and employs 70% of the workforce.
• Topography and climatic conditions limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area, resulting in periodic food shortages.
• Tanzania has become increasingly reliant on international organisations and bilateral donors' funds to rehabilitate its out-of-date economic infrastructure and to alleviate poverty.

Goals

To introduce a series of measures aimed at disrupting the vicious cycle of poverty that afflicts many people. 

Activities

• Improvement of small-scale irrigation systems
• Diversifying from crops into small livestock production
• Introduction of more productive crops
• Savings and credit groups allowing farmers to borrow money, and the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture intended to generate a consistent source of income.

Results

• The introduction of more productive crop types such as maize and rice coupled with innovative but low-cost irrigation techniques, allowed farmers to increase their average harvests up to threefold in many cases. This not only represents a significant increase in farmer's production and income, but also marks the end of subsistence farming, paving the way for small-scale commercial and entrepreneurial activities.
• The project established paddy and maize milling facilities in the project areas, which allows farmers to store, package and market their products at a better price.
• The creation of savings and credit groups, which provide credit to farmers that can be invested in farming equipment also improved productivity and contributed to the project’s sustainability.
• The project also helped improve nutrition levels of the vulnerable segments of the population through the promotion of a more diversified diet consisting of vegetables, fish, meat and animal products. Recent nutrition surveys in the SPFS project area point to a substantial increase in the body weight of children aged 1 to 5 years, emphasizing the effectiveness of the Programme as a means of reducing under nourishment and infant mortality.
• Impressed by the positive impact of the SPFS pilot projects on participating farming communities, the Government of Tanzania plans to scale up the SPFS pilot project results to a nation wide Programme through the Agriculture Sector Development Programme. Food security for specific vulnerable groups will be included in a multi-donor initiative that has poverty and food insecurity reduction as its main target.
• The Government has started applying the lessons learnt from the SPFS pilot projects to other villages throughout the country. In particular, SPFS has developed a model for working with farmers; Farmer Field Schools are stepping-stones to Participatory Farmer Groups and Water User Groups who decide how water is distributed and maintain the irrigation infrastructure. These organizations in turn become legal entities through savings and credit associations who have legal protection when handling money saved and lent within a community group.
• The adoption of techniques (such as rain fed irrigation) is designed to reduce the decline in soil fertility and raise the sustainability of crop production for many years to come.