How can agro-processing development in Tanzania become more climate-aware, trade-driven and food security-enhancing? This study explores this question and provides policy options for coherently harnessing the full potential of Tanzania’s still nascent agro-industry despite climate change.
Tanzania has begun implementing its second five-year development plan with a keen focus on industrialisation for economic transformation and human development. The plan acknowledges the fact that most of Tanzaniaís agricultural exports continue to be in raw form, mainly owing to a weak agro-processing industrial base. The plan provides reference to privatised key agro-processing industries, such as leather, which have not performed as per expectation, resulting in continued export of raw produce. With efforts to promote agro-processing in the country, the link between climate, trade, and food security cannot be understated. The government has introduced several national policy frameworks that will support effective implementation of the national development plan agenda.
This study, therefore has attempted to identify and fill knowledge gaps on agro-industrial development- related policies, and how they pertain to climate change, food security, and trade linkages in Tanzania. Specifically, six items of inquiry have been investigated in this study. Firstly, how agro-industrial policy at the regional and national level addresses climate change, food security, and trade were investigated. Secondly, the missing links and prospective policies that should be put in place to mainstream climate change, food security, and trade linkages through agro-processing were identified. Thirdly, it identifies and understands the role of gender in climate change, food security, and trade linkages in agro-industrialisation. The study also identifies the challenges of mainstreaming climate change, food security, and trade linkages into policy to support the agro-processing industry. Moreover, the study aims to identify and understand the challenges and opportunities of the agro- industrial sub-sector in the East African Community (EAC) region; and to investigate how national plans are aligned with the EAC regional policies and strategies of agro-processing.
The findings show that there are strong relationships between agro-industry, trade, food security, and climate change which are not acknowledged sufficiently in policy, because they are not known despite their contributions and effects to the economy. Agro-industrial development does not only increase the quality of our food products, but also promotes trade as it ensures and stimulates demand for the processed goods both in national and international markets. There are several spillovers emanating from the linkages between agro-industry, trade, food security, and climate change which are not well known, and little effort is made to build on or make use of the benefits or opportunities emerging from these linkages for the benefit of the people in Tanzania and other countries in the EAC.
This study provides recommendations and conclusions that, if taken on, would eventually contribute to having a concise framework that encompass all stakeholders, including the government, non- state actors, farmers, processors, traders, manufacturers, and even environmentalists. In doing so, we believe this report will contribute to the sustainable industrialisation agenda.