Kilimo Kwanza

KILIMO KWANZA is a national resolve to accelerate agricultural transformation. It comprises a holistic set of policy instruments and strategic interventions towards addressing various sectoral challenges and taking advantage of the numerous opportunities to modernise and commercialise agriculture in Tanzania.
President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete launched KILIMO KWANZA in Dodoma on 3^rd August 2009, as a central pillar in achieving the country’s Vision 2025 and a force to propel the realisation of the Nation’s socio-economic development goals. Agriculture in the context of KILIMO KWANZA conforms to the FAO definition which includes crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry and bee-keeping.

KILIMO KWANZA is a catalyst for the implementation of Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) and accelerates implementation and achievement of MDGs targets and objectives with a stronger emphasis for pro – poor growth. It takes a holistic approach for the development of agricultural sector which involves all sectors in the economy. KILIMO KWANZA provides national coordination of resources, planning and accountability for implementation of agricultural transformation and enhances strong private sector participation as a key agent towards realization of agricultural goals.

The implementation of KILIMO KWANZA revolves around ten pillars, namely

 

1. Political will to push our agricultural transformation.
2. Enhanced financing for agriculture.
3. Institutional reorganization and management of agriculture.
4. Paradigm shift to strategic agricultural production.
5. Land availability for agriculture.
6. Incentives to stimulate investments in agriculture.
7. Industrialization for agricultural transformation.
8. Science, technology and human resources to support agricultural transformation.
9. Infrastructure Development to support agricultural transformation.
10. Mobilization of Tanzanians to support and participate in the implementation of KILIMO KWANZA.      

Since KILIMO KWANZA was launched, there has been some improvements in the performance of the agricultural sector such as:

• The increase in the agricultural budgets, the share of budget for agriculture has risen to about 7 percent of the annual budget, which has also led to increased subsidies to farmers from 750,000 last year (2008/09) to 1,500,000 farmers this year (2009/2010). The target is to reach 10 percent for the development of the sector.
• To effectively finance the agricultural sector, the Government has arranged a special window for concessionary lending for agricultural production at TIB, while procedures of establishing an Agricultural Bank are underway.
• The government has established a Task Force to review fiscal and non – fiscal policies to attract more investors in the agricultural sector.  
• Most agricultural equipment have been exempted from taxation, this has increased the private sector participation in the agricultural sector by importing more tractors and other equipment for agriculture production and processing in the country.

The Fourth Phase Government decided to champion KILIMO KWANZA after recognizing the importance of the agriculture sector in the country and the need to build on the past efforts, after making an in-depth review of the agricultural sector and formulating the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP),which placed new initiatives with strategies and plans for implementation of Green Revolution.

Core features of the ASDP are to strengthen Public and Private Partnerships across all levels of the agricultural sector and implement the District Agricultural Development Plans (DADPs) as the comprehensive tool for agricultural development at district level.

The main focus is to emphasize on the transformation of the poor peasantry farming methods into productive agriculture through utilization of improved agricultural technologies, inputs, credits and market access and to see Tanzania peasants moving from where they are now by using more ploughs, power tillers and tractors whenever possible.

TANZANIA’S UNIQUE POTENTIALS FOR KILIMO KWANZA IMPLEMENTATION

• Existence of 44 million hectares of arable land but only 23% is currently under cultivation.
• 62,000 sq.kms of the fresh water resources available for crops, livestock and fish farming which is grossly underutilized.
• 29 million hectares of irrigable land but only ONE PERCENT is currently under irrigation.
• 19 million cattle, 17 million sheep and goats; 30 million chicken which are not commercially exploited.
• 1,424 kms of coastline and 223,000 sq.kms of Tanzania’s Exclusive Economic Zone of the Indian Ocean which is not being effectively exploited.