In Tanzania like in many countries, market and trade-related bottlenecks constrain initiatives to promote agricultural productivity improvements, develop domestic value chains, generate agriculture-related employment and improve domestic food security. Addressing misalignment between agricultural and trade policies is fundamental to creating an enabling environment for agricultural development initiatives to work. 

FAO in collaboration with the European Centre for Policy Development Management (ECDPM) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), and with support from Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries (MALF), Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment (MITI) has carried out a study to assess gaps and potential synergies in the policymaking processes including setting mechanisms for sectoral priorities and institutional processes relevant to agricultural and trade.  Tanzania is one of four countries of the FAO’s project - Trade related capacity development in Eastern and Southern Africa.

This analysis seeks to contribute to better coordination between the trade and agricultural policy making processes in Tanzania, and thereby to promote greater alignment between Tanzania’s trade and agricultural policies and the development of a coherent national policy framework on agricultural and trade.

In the validation workshop, in which public and private stakeholders from the agriculture and trade sector attended, the gaps and synergies identified in the agriculture and trade policies and policy making progresses were presented. 

The following is the recommendations prioritized by the participants: 

 Policy consultation process should be more inclusive, by including the private sector and the regional government; 

 For the policy decisions made in the high level to be carried out in the local government, a horizontal coordination mechanism needs to be strengthened; and 

 An efficient mechanism to share data and information in order to nurture policy decision making is needed.