The African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a grant of U.S.$2.5 million to support 10,000 small horticultural businesses in Tanzania.

Development Dairies reports that the funds, which were approved on 19 October, 2023, will come from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme to support mainly food system service providers in rural areas.

Tanzanian agriculture is seeing rapid growth in the horticultural sector. The East African country’s annual growth rate is 11 percent, whereas the agriculture sector as a whole is rising at a pace of four percent.

Nonetheless, Tanzania’s horticultural industry faces numerous difficulties, including low and uneven proficiency in quality control and production methods, limited assurance of produce quality and safety, insufficient financial services, unstable transportation and electrical supplies, and substantial postharvest losses.

According to data from Climate Links, postharvest losses are estimated at between 40 and 50 percent in the horticulture sector.

Also, figures from Statista show that the export of horticultural products from Tanzania increased to U.S.$274 million in 2020, up from U.S.$202 million in the previous year.

The AfDB said the programme aims to increase the production and marketing of horticultural products to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It includes promoting sustainable and climate-smart agricultural and agro-ecological techniques and management strategies for biodiversity and landscapes.

It is understood that the scheme will be implemented in four regions: the rural district of Morogoro, Mvomero district in Morogoro region; Wanging’ombe district in Njombe region, and Kaskazini ‘A’ and ‘B’ districts in Unguja, Zanzibar.

Photo source: AfDB