EPAR Research Brief #75
Mon, 11/02/2009
Authors: 
Jessica Henson Cagley
Robert Plotnick
Mary Kay Gugerty
Abstract: 

In Tanzania, agriculture represents approximately 50 percent of GDP, 80 percent of rural employment, and over 50 percent of the foreign exchange earnings. Yet poor soil fertility and resulting low productivity contribute to low economic growth and widespread poverty. Chemical fertilizer has the potential to contribute to crop yield increases. Yet high prices and weaknesses in the fertilizer market keep fertilizer use low. This literature review examines the history of government interventions that have intended to increase access to fertilizers, and reviews current policies, market structure, and challenges that contribute to the present conditions. We find that despite numerous strategies over the last fifty years, from heavy government involvement to liberalization, major weaknesses in Tanzania’s fertilizer market prevent efficient use of fertilizer. High transportation costs, low knowledge level of farmers and agrodealers, unavailability of improved seed, and limited access to credit all contribute to the market’s problems. The government’s current framework, the Tanzania Agriculture Input Partnership (TAIP), acknowledges this interconnectedness by targeting multiple components of the market. This model could help Tanzania tailor solutions relevant to specific road, soil, and market conditions of different areas of the country, contributing to enhanced food security and economic growth.

EPAR’s Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy series provides a history of government intervention in the fertilizer markets of eight Sub-Saharan African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. The briefs focus on details of present and past voucher programs, input subsidies, tariffs in the fertilizer sector, and the political context of these policies. The briefs illustrate these policies’ effect on key domestic crops and focus on the strengths and weaknesses of current market structure. Fertilizer policy in SSA has been extremely dynamic over the last fifty years, swinging from enormous levels of intervention in the 1960s and 70s to liberalization of markets of the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, intervention has become more moderate, focusing on “market smart” subsidies and support.

See also:

EPAR Research Brief #42: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Nigeria

EPAR Research Brief #50: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Executive Summary

EPAR Research Brief #76: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Mozambique

EPAR Research Brief #77: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Ghana

EPAR Research Brief #78: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Côte d’Ivoire

EPAR Research Brief #79: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Kenya

EPAR Research Brief #80: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Senegal

EPAR Research Brief #81: Political Economy of Fertilizer Policy in Malawi

 

Type of Research: 
Literature Review
Research Topic Category: 
Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Livelihoods
Agricultural Inputs & Farm Management
Market & Value Chain Analysis
Population(s): 
Countries/Governments
Smallholder Farmers
Geographic focus: 
East Africa Region and Selected Countries
Dataset(s): 
FAOSTAT
Other Datasets

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