A joint effort to boost the livelihoods of small-scall oil palm farmers. In January 2022, a letter of agreement was developed between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), (LoA FAO-TARI) on Sustainable Oil Palm Production (SOPP). The duration of LoA FAO-TARI was 1 year (January to December 2022) with a total budget of 70,000 USD funded by FAO. The overall objective of the LoA FAO-TARI was to contribute to improved economy and the livelihoods of small-scale oil palm farmers of Kigoma and other parts of Tanzania, as well as to enhance food security and resilience.  

Specifically, the LoA FAO-TARI intended to: (i) Develop 3,500,000 improved Tenera oil palm seeds from which 2,000,000 oil palm seedlings would be raised and distributed to farmers (ii) Train 130 extension officers on good agronomic practices (GAP) on oil palm (iii) Monitor 200 farmers among all farmers who received oil palm seedlings (iv) Establish 500 ha planted with improved Tenera varieties and (v) Develop a sustainable model for oil palm production in Kigoma.

More than 3 million seeds produced and a national investment plan to foster sustainable oil palm production. By 31^st December 2022, 3,521,000 seeds have been produced (100.6% of the target). From the produced seeds, 951,000 seedlings have been raised (47.5% of the target). More seeds produced are currently being set for pre-germination thus more seedlings will be raised to reach the target. In the meanwhile, seedlings raised before the start of the project have been distributed to the farmers, as it takes 18 to 22 months to get oil palm seedlings from the time of hybridization to seedling planting in the field.

Project team in collaboration with the national consultant have developed a manual on sustainable production practices for oil palm production in Kigoma, as well as a 5 years’ investment plan on oil palm at the national level. The project team intends to conduct an awareness creation workshop on the production model and investment plan to policy makers, oil palm growers and other stakeholders like extensions services and financial institutions and investors in the areas of interventions to foster a sustainable oil palm production in Kigoma.

Over 1 500 farmers trained and 630 ha planted with improved varieties. The project team trained farmers. The face-to-face farmers training reached 1,532 farmers (1,176 males and 356 females) in 8 district councils of Kigoma region. The training was on oil palm nursery establishment and management and oil palm plantation establishment and management.

More than 1,000 farmers received seedlings for plantations and nursery establishment, among whom 194 farmers were closely monitored by the project (97% of the target) and managed to plant an area of 633.2 ha with improved Tenera oil palm (127% of the target).

Photo: TARI KIHINGA. Training of farmers on good agronomic practices in Kakonko district Kigoma.