The urban food security challenge in Tanzania is both distinct and pressing. With an urban population that is set to more than double by 2030, so will its food requirements. Many food security challenges exist, including weak rural-urban food supply linkages, an inadequate food import budget and production constraints on the smallholder farming sector. In light of this, Tanzanian policy is aiming to improve the capacity of rural areas to meet the growing urban food demand

Wenban-Smith, Hugh B.

LSE Research Online

2017­6­19 Food insecurity in urban Tanzania ­ IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/food­insecurity­in­urban­tanzania/ 1/4Authors Hugh Wenban-SmithIndependent ResearcherResearcherPublished on: 19 Dec 2016Countries: TanzaniaResearch themes: Cities Food insecurity in urban TanzaniaThe urban food security challenge in Tanzaniais both distinct and pressing. With an urbanpopulation that is set to more than double by2030, so will its food requirements. Many foodsecurity challenges exist, including weakrural-urban food supply linkages, aninadequate food import budget andproduction constraints on the smallholderfarming sector. In light of this, Tanzanianpolicy is aiming to improve the capacity ofrural areas to meet the growing urban fooddemand.Many mouths to feed in the cityAmong the many challenges facing African cities today, is theneed to ensure there is enough food to satisfy their rapidlygrowing populations. This was the theme of a Food Securityjournal article, titled Food security in Tanzania: The challengeof rapid urbanisation. The article considers the implications onurban food supplies in the period up to 2030, which serves asthe current Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) horizon (Seethis IGC report on urbanisation in Tanzania).The SDG’s include targets related to food security (SDG 2) andmaking cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilientand sustainable (SDG 11). Even so, the distinct character of theurban food security challenge in relatively poor countries, suchas Tanzania, may not be widely appreciated.Permanent urban consumptionAs urban populations grow, under the influence of both naturalpopulation growth and in-migration, more people becomepermanent consumers. This means they become separated fromthe land and other traditional food sources. This renders themmore reliant on urban markets for their food supplies, whiletheir consumption patterns also change, particularly for thosewhose incomes rise.Satisfying demandIn order to arrive at an estimate of future food requirements inTanzania, you need to estimate future population growth ratesin the country. We assume population growth rates up until2030 that are consistent with those used in the United NationsWorld Urbanisation Prospects: The 2014 revision, for Tanzania2017­6­19 Food insecurity in urban Tanzania ­ IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/food­insecurity­in­urban­tanzania/ 2/4“(including Zanzibar). This estimate is somewhat lower thanrecent trends. On this basis, as shown in Table 1, Tanzania’surban population will have increased by an additional 125%(145% for Dar es Salaam) by 2030. Urban food requirementscan therefore be expected to increase by at least this amount –more if urban per capita incomes increase.Tanzania’s urban population will have increased byan additional 125% (145% for Dar es Salaam) by 2030.Urban food requirements can therefore be expected toincrease by at least this amount – more if urban percapita incomes increase ”Current needsThis indicates the scale of the urban food security challengefacing Tanzania in the medium term. The country thereforeneeds to determine how it will:Produce or procure a sufficient quantity of foodDeliver food economically and in good condition to urbanmarkets when requiredEnsure that the needs of marginalised urban populations can bemetWhat’s more, the rural population of Tanzania will increaseover the same period by 38%, eating into the local marketablesurplus.Table 1: Illustrative projection of mainland Tanzania urban andrural populationsCurrent challengesThe evidence so far is that Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s main city,has managed to avoid serious problems of food insecurity,although the position is more precarious in other urban areas(and even more so in rural areas). Whether Tanzania can avoidfuture deterioration in urban food security will depend on howresponsive and resilient the urban food supply systems prove tobe in the face of continuing urban growth, changingconsumption patterns, weak rural-urban food supply linkagesand production constraints in the smallholder farming sector.Current developmentsThere have been important developments in large scale foodproduction and processing, such as flour milling, edible oils,sugar and tea and coffee.Supplies of milk products, poultry and eggs, and fruit and2017­6­19 Food insecurity in urban Tanzania ­ IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/food­insecurity­in­urban­tanzania/ 3/4““Supplies of milk products, poultry and eggs, and fruit andvegetables to urban areas from mainly rural producers are alsoincreasing.A number of urban supermarkets are now established,particularly in Dar es Salaam, but their contribution to foodsecurity is largely confined to the better off urban consumers.In addition to the large companies and supermarkets, there arelarge numbers of small producers, transporters, traders, etc. whoplay a part in linking mainly rural food production to thegrowing urban markets, supplying open markets, itineranttraders and small shops.Generally, however, systems for getting produce from rural areasto the main markets in Tanzania remain rather poorly developed.Transport is often difficult (particularly during the rainy season),distances can be considerable, vehicles are rarely specialized, andstorage is generally inadequate.The crucial role of smallholder farmingTanzania has managed to become broadly self-sufficient inbasic foodstuffs (except wheat), and may indeed have thepotential to become a net exporter of some products. However,Tanzania’s balance of payments remains quite dependent oncapital inflows through aid and private investment, leaving littlescope to cover additional food requirements through imports.This means that future urban food security may depend to alarge extent on raising production and productivity in thesmallholder rural farming sector, and raising participation ofthese farmers in food supply chains.Future urban food security may depend to a largeextent on raising production and productivity in thesmallholder rural farming sector, and raisingparticipation of these farmers in food supply chains ”However, rural smallholder food production is alreadyconstrained by the pressure of population on land and otherresources, while subsistence requirements, inadequate supportservices and poor market access limit their market participation.In addition, in rural areas where food insecurity is an issue,household members tend to migrate to the urban centres.Tanzanian policy is already shifting from the goal ofsupplying urban populations with food at favourableprices to a more rural focus. The aim is to improve thecapacity of rural areas to meet the growing urban fooddemand ”Moving forward: rural development and strengtheningvalue chainsTo overcome these challenges, Tanzanian policy is alreadyshifting from the goal of supplying urban populations with foodat favourable prices to a more rural focus with the aim ofimproving the capacity of rural areas to meet growing urbandemand. We suggest that future policy needs to reinforce these2017­6­19 Food insecurity in urban Tanzania ­ IGChttp://www.theigc.org/blog/food­insecurity­in­urban­tanzania/ 4/4demand. We suggest that future policy needs to reinforce theseefforts by further promotion of rural development, puttingmore resources into initiatives such as Kilimo Kwanza (anational strategy of the Government which includes increasingcrop production, improving livestock husbandry andundertaking fish farming.) Furthermore, rural-urban linkageswould benefit from a sustained programme to strengthen valuechains, particularly as regards storage, processing, transportand marketing of agricultural products. The potential formarket gardening in peri-urban areas could also usefully beexplored.The challenges discussed here are likely to arise in very similarform in other SSA countries so that a dialogue across the regionmay help to promote a productive exchange on policies toaddress the issues.

Food insecurity in urban Tanzania

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