Fostering Fertilizer Use and Welfare Distribution in Tanzania: Implications for Policy and Practice

This chapter attempts to assess the way the welfare effect is distributed among various players of the fertilizer supply chain and how fertilizer use can be promoted using micro fertilization technology. As policy debates over fertilizer use promotion have not yet come full circle, this chapter derives important implications for policy and practice. In particular, illustrations and economic-surplus effects framework were used to indicate expected impacts of fertilizer microdosing on crop yields and welfare. Low-dimension diagrammatic analysis using supply and demand curves was used together with detailed assessment of actors’ interactions in the fertilizer supply chain. In terms of welfare, crop producers, consumers and other market agents gain more if fertilizer microdosing is adopted by farmers. However, the magnitude of welfare effects varies as the slope of demand and supply curves change due to marginal fertilizer costs, crop prices and yield responses. Other influencing factors are soil moisture, the microdose rate, cropping system and general farm management practices. Thus, fertilizer microdosing can easily foster fertilizer use if the country elites implement a rational consistent policy, hence improving the welfare of players if adoption of the technology is reinforced with an efficient fertilizer supply chain

Capacity strengthening strategy through capacity needs assessment for Country Level Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS): Tanzania

The overall purpose of this study is to develop a country‐specific capacity‐strengthening strategy to meet the strategic analysis and knowledge management objectives of the country CAADP process. The specific objective is to identify areas for improving the quality and utility of agricultural policy analysis and investment planning and implementation, M&E, and knowledge management at the country level. The study’s findings will be useful in designing and establishing the country SAKSS. Targeted respondents for the study included government ministries and agencies, local organizations involved in agricultural and food policy research, local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and institutions of learning and research.Non-PRIFPRI1; ReSAKSSDSGD; WCAO; ESA

Manufacturing sector’s growth in Tanzania: Empirical lessons from macroeconomic factors, 1970–2021

AbstractThe study investigates the Tanzania manufacturing sector’s growth with a view to provide empirical lessons from macroeconomic factors with limited political regimes reflections. A vector error collection model was used to assess the influence of foreign direct investments (FDI), inflation (INF), export of product (EXP), power supply (PS), government expenditure (GoE), nominal lending interest rate (IRL), population growth rate (PGR) and exchange rate (EXR). The estimated value of the coefficient measuring the speed of adjustment toward long-run equilibrium is statistically significant and negative, implying that 41.6% of the short-run shocks can be corrected back to the long-run equilibrium immediately in the following year so has to prevent the model from explosion. Signs of INF, PS and IRL in the model estimation conform to expectations. Moreover, reducing production costs, increasing the trade openness, attracting FDI, offering appropriate government incentives and management of the foreign exchange rate have potentials of boosting the Tanzania’s economic growth. Thus, the government in collaboration with other stakeholders should work toward making the Tanzania manufacturing sector’s growth more competitive by creating conducive business environment that will lead to multiplier effects

Profitability of gliricidia‐maize system in selected dryland areas of dodoma region, Tanzania

Declining soil fertility and climatic extremes are among major problems for agricultural production in most dryland agro-ecologies of sub-Saharan Africa. In response, the agroforestry technology intercropping of Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.)) and Maize (Zea mays L.) was developed to complement conventional soil fertility management technologies. However, diversified information on the profitability of Gliricidia-Maize intercropping system in dryland areas is scanty. Using data from the Gliricidia and maize models of the Next Generation version of the Agriculture Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM), this study estimates the profitability of the Gliricidia-Maize system relative to an unfertilized sole maize system. Results show significant heterogeneity in profitability indicators both in absolute and relative economic terms. Aggregated over a 20-year cycle, Gliricidia-Maize intercropping exhibited a higher Net Present Value (NPV = Tsh 19,238,798.43) and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR = 4.27) than the unfertilized sole maize system. The NPV and BCR of the latter were Tsh 10,934,669.90 and 3.59, respectively. Moreover, the returns to labour per person day in the Gliricidia-Maize system was 1.5 times those of the unfertilized sole maize system. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the profitability of the Gliricidia-Maize system is more negatively affected by the decrease in output prices than the increase in input prices. A 30% decrease in the former leads to a decrease in NPV and BCR by 38% and 30%, respectively. Despite the higher initial costs of the agroforestry establishment, the 30% increase in input prices affects more disproportionally unfertilized sole maize than the Gliricidia-Maize system in absolute economic terms, i.e., 11.1% versus 8.8% decrease in NPV. In relative economic terms, an equal magnitude of change in input prices exerts the same effect on the unfertilized sole maize and the Gliricidia-maize systems. This result implies that the monetary benefits accrued after the first year of agroforestry establishment offset the initial investment costs. The Gliricidia-Maize intercropping technology therefore is profitable with time, and it can contribute to increased household income and food security. Helping farmers to overcome initial investment costs and manage agroforestry technologies well to generate additional benefits is critical for the successful scaling of the Gliricidia-Maize intercropping technology in dryland areas of Dodoma, Tanzania.Peer Reviewe