Natalie Cowling
Research Expert South Africa
Agriculture in Tanzania - statistics & facts
Crop cultivation and animal husbandry occupy roughly half of Tanzania’s territory. Unsurprisingly, agriculture makes up the base of the country’s economy. In 2020, agricultural activities, forestry, and fishing contributed nearly one-third to the Tanzanian GDP. This corresponded to approximately 14.3 billion U.S. dollars in value-added, an amount roughly 30 percent higher than that registered in 2015. At the end of 2021, the sector clocked a quarterly growth of 4.2 percent at constant prices.
Large source of foreign-exchange earnings
Cereals, horticulture, cashew nuts, coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, and cloves have a 20 percent share in Tanzania’s total exports. As of 2020, the country earned over 1.2 billion U.S. dollars with the export of main agricultural commodities. In spite of fluctuations, the value has overall increased in the last years. Earnings from cereal exports, for instance, have incremented greatly, reaching nearly 403 million U.S. dollars in 2021. This was mainly due to Tanzania's key role in the cross-border trade of staple foods in East Africa, supplying neighboring nations, like Uganda and Kenya, with rice and maize.Agriculture's contribution to employment
Agriculture is a mainstay of livelihoods for most Tanzanians. Roughly eight million households, most of them in rural areas, have been engaged in agricultural activities. Also, agriculture generates most of the jobs in Tanzania. The sector accounted for nearly 65 percent of the total employment in 2020. This share has, however, progressively decreased. As a comparison, in 2000, employment in agriculture surpassed 80 percent of the total. The decline reflects a shift in the sectoral distribution of employment in Tanzania in the last decades, with more people engaged every year in the service sector, especially women.Main challenges to the agricultural sector
Agriculture in Tanzania is mostly rain fed. Hence, climate variations like floods and droughts strongly impact crops’ output. On top of that, agriculture productivity in the country is largely influenced by the low usage of fertilizers. Although the use of fertilizer for agricultural activities in Tanzania has improved in recent years, the ratio between nutrients’ usage and arable land remains one of the lowest in Africa. Consequently, weak yields translate into increases in food prices and endanger food security. As of November 2021, around four million people lacked sufficient food for consumption in the country.
