Improving Infrastructure

February 20, 2013
Economic Development 

Agriculture underlies the economy of Tanzania, a coastal country in east Africa. It accounts for about half of the national income and provides jobs for about 80 percent of Tanzanians.

The government of Tanzania, agribusinesses and the farming community are working together to improve every link of the region’s agricultural value chain.

To improve agricultural production and distribution, the government of Tanzania, agribusinesses and the farming community are working together in southern Tanzania to improve every link of the region’s agricultural value chain. This includes upgrading roads and processing equipment to investing in new farmland and increasing the port of Dar es Salaam’s shipping capacity. This large-scale partnership, known as the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania, stretches across one-third of the country, a critical area of food production near rail, road and power infrastructure. Projects along the corridor aim to help 2,400 rice farmers gain access to financing; increase seed potato yields for small farmers by 200 per cent or more; and develop macadamia nuts as a new export crop among many other goals that will improve Tanzania’s agricultural sector.