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East Africa

Tanzania

Tanzania is in East Africa. As the pilot country, it gathers qualitative facts checked against official or authoritative sources.

This is one of our pilot countries. The statements below were checked against the official or authoritative pages listed at the bottom of this page. They are qualitative and may change, so confirm details with the institution before you act. Anything we could not verify is listed separately.

What we found, by topic

Agricultural products

Sourced
  • Tanzania's Agenda 10/30 roadmap, published on the Ministry of Agriculture website, prioritises a group of crop value chains: maize, rice, wheat, pulses, cassava, sorghum, cotton, sunflower, cashew nuts, coffee, avocado, sisal and soya beans.[2]
  • The ministry's homepage also lists commodity boards for coffee, tea, cashew, cotton, tobacco and sisal among the bodies it coordinates.[1]
  • TARI, the national agricultural research institution, works on cereals, legumes, horticultural, oil and fibre crops, including post-harvest management and value-chain studies.[11]

Value-addition opportunities

Sourced
  • Agenda 10/30 (the 'Kilimo Biashara' roadmap) is presented as a plan of strategic investments to accelerate the crop sub-sector targets of ASDP II, with objectives covering productivity, post-harvest loss reduction, market access, policy reform and youth engagement.[2]
  • The roadmap stresses storage infrastructure, quality standards (GAP, sanitary and phytosanitary standards) and agro-industrialisation, naming sunflower oil processing, rice processing, cotton ginning, sisal fibre and by-products, and cashew processing.[2]
  • Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) is described in Agenda 10/30 as the programme enabling young people to take part in agriculture through access to land, inputs and finance; the ministry website also features BBT youth-training content.[1][2]
  • TADB finances several stages of agricultural value chains, including storage and processing, and offers project finance aimed at agro-processing infrastructure.[7]

Business opportunities

Sourced
  • BRELA operates the Online Registration System (ORS) for registering companies and business names, and handles trade and service marks, patents and industrial licences; it describes itself as an Executive Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.[4][29]
  • TISEZA, the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority, replaced the Tanzania Investment Centre by merger with the Export Processing Zones Authority under the 2025 Act; it provides a one-stop facilitation centre, investment promotion and special economic zone management.[3]
  • SIDO supports small industries with technical advisory services, technology and machinery information, loan connections, packaging and market information, training and help with formalisation.[8]
  • TRA administers central-government taxes, including customs and excise; business owners deal with TRA for tax obligations.[13]
  • TRA issues the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN): individuals apply online through TRA's portal, and companies first obtain a certificate of incorporation from BRELA and then apply for a TIN through the taxpayer portal.[32]

Government resources

Sourced
  • The Ministry of Agriculture (Wizara ya Kilimo) oversees crop development, food security, irrigation and agricultural technology, and its homepage lists, among its institutions and boards, the research institute TARI, the commodity boards, the Cooperative Development Commission and the Agricultural Inputs Trust Fund.[1]
  • TARI conducts agricultural research, technology transfer, and post-harvest and value-chain and marketing studies through research centres across the country.[11]
  • The Tanzania Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board manages the warehouse receipt system for agricultural commodities: it registers and licenses warehouse operators, oversees collateral managers and warehouse inspectors, and trains farmer cooperatives (AMCOS).[12]
  • TADB is the agricultural development bank, lending along value chains from inputs to markets.[7]
  • The ministry responsible for industry and trade is the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Wizara ya Viwanda na Biashara), the name used on its own website and by BRELA and TBS; the WRRB site still shows an older name, 'Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment'.[30][29]

Regulatory information

Sourced
  • TBS formulates and publishes standards, provides product certification, registers food and cosmetic premises, maintains public lists of registered premises and certified products, and inspects and enforces compliance.[6][14]
  • TPHPA, created under the Plant Health Act, handles plant health inspection and certification, pesticide registration and quality testing, and pesticide business licensing; it is the national plant protection organisation under the IPPC and issues phytosanitary certificates.[9][10]
  • TMDA's premises registration page covers medical devices, diagnostics and laboratory equipment, not food; TMDA itself states that the regulation of food and cosmetics was shifted to TBS, so processed-food businesses deal with TBS.[5][14]

Financing resources

Sourced
  • The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) lends directly and through partner financial institutions, with products such as asset, project and seasonal financing organised around agricultural value chains. It also offers co-financing and wholesale loans and runs a Smallholder Farmers Credit Guarantee Scheme.[15]
  • The Agricultural Inputs Trust Fund (AGITF), under the Ministry of Agriculture, offers loan products for individual farmers and an institutional loan window for financial institutions that lend to agriculture.[16]
  • The Building a Better Tomorrow Youth Initiative for Agribusiness (BBT-YIA), supported by the African Development Bank, includes a component on innovative financing and private-sector engagement, including off-taker arrangements with anchor investors, for youth agribusinesses.[17]
  • The Bank of Tanzania administers two credit guarantee schemes on behalf of the government, an Export Credit Guarantee Scheme and an SME Credit Guarantee Scheme, which partly cover loans to borrowers with sound projects but insufficient collateral; they are not specific to agriculture, although exporters and small agribusinesses may qualify.[33]

Export information

Sourced
  • The Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA), created under the Plant Health Act, regulates plant health and pesticides and handles phytosanitary certification for exports, in line with the International Plant Protection Convention.[9]
  • For coffee, exporters must hold a licence from the Tanzania Coffee Board under the Coffee Industry Regulations, with separate licence categories such as green, roasted and ground, instant and premium coffee.[18]
  • The Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) promotes trade through trade fairs and exhibitions, buyer-seller meetings and contact-promotion programmes, and provides market information and trade-fair facilities.[19]

Training

Sourced
  • The Ministry of Agriculture runs Agricultural Training Institutes (MATI) offering certificate and diploma courses and short courses for smallholders, extension officers and farm managers, with practical learning on farm units and in laboratories. Some institutes specialise, for example in rice, irrigation or sugar cane production and processing.[26]
  • Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) trains students from certificate to doctoral level, conducts research, and provides outreach through an Institute of Continuing Education, field training stations and consultancy services.[27]
  • The BBT-YIA programme, executed by the Ministry of Agriculture, supports youth entrepreneurship through outreach, skills development and incubation and acceleration training, including upgrading Youth Agribusiness Incubation Centres.[17]

Markets

Sourced
  • The Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board (WRRB) licenses and regulates warehouse businesses, operators and inspectors under the Warehouse Receipts Act. Farmers can store produce in licensed warehouses, keep ownership, and use the receipt as collateral for credit or as proof of title for later sale.[20]
  • The Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX) is a commodity exchange that provides a trading platform and price information, and works with the warehouse receipt system so that stored commodities are documented as electronic receipts.[21][28]
  • For coffee, the Tanzania Coffee Board conducts catalogue-based auctions at Moshi or approved locations and may allow direct export where conditions are met. TanTrade also works on market linkage between producers and buyers at home and abroad.[18][19]
  • The Cereals and Other Produce Board (CPB) is listed among the Ministry of Agriculture's institutions; according to its own website it was established under the Cereals and Other Produce Act of 2009 and trades in cereals and other produce so that farmers can reach a reliable market and competitive prices.[31]
  • TMX's own website describes a web-based trading platform with price discovery, clearing and settlement and market surveillance, supporting spot trading including auctions and working with the warehouse receipt system; according to press reports, commodity auctions for stored crops continue to run through TMX.[34]

Organizations

Sourced
  • The Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) regulates and promotes cooperatives under the Cooperative Societies Act, registering societies and SACCOs, supervising and inspecting them, and running research and training units.[22]
  • The Tanzania Private Sector Federation (TPSF) is the apex body of the private sector, offering policy advocacy, business support, trade fairs and capacity-building to its member associations and businesses.[23]
  • The Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) represents producers, exporters, processors, input and service suppliers and smallholder farmer groups, and works on advocacy for better business conditions, industry capacity-building and wider market access for horticulture.[24]
  • The Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (AGCOT), formerly the SAGCOT Centre, is a public-private partnership bringing together government, private sector, research institutions and development partners to strengthen value chains and support smallholders.[25]

Sources

Links open in a new tab. Statements are paraphrased and checked at the time of writing.

  1. 1.Ministry of Agriculture (Wizara ya Kilimo) homepage — Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania
  2. 2.The Agenda 10/30 Investment Roadmap (Kilimo Biashara) — Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania
  3. 3.TISEZA history — Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority
  4. 4.Company registration — Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority
  5. 5.Registration and licensing of premises — Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority
  6. 6.TBS website — Tanzania Bureau of Standards
  7. 7.TADB website — Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank
  8. 8.SIDO website — Small Industries Development Organization
  9. 9.TPHPA website — Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority
  10. 10.Description of the NPPO of Tanzania — International Plant Protection Convention (FAO)
  11. 11.TARI website — Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute
  12. 12.WRRB website — Tanzania Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board
  13. 13.TRA website — Tanzania Revenue Authority
  14. 14.Shifting of functions for regulating food and cosmetics — Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority
  15. 15.TADB Business (products and credit guarantee) — Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank
  16. 16.Agricultural Inputs Trust Fund (AGITF) website — Agricultural Inputs Trust Fund
  17. 17.Tanzania - Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) Program - Youth in Agribusiness, Project 1 — African Development Bank
  18. 18.The Coffee Industry Regulations, 2013 — Tanzania Coffee Board
  19. 19.TanTrade Corporate Strategic Plan — Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade)
  20. 20.The Warehouse Receipts Act, 2005 — United Republic of Tanzania (text via FAOLEX, FAO)
  21. 21.The Tanzania Mercantile Exchange at a Glance — Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (hosted by Capital Markets and Securities Authority)
  22. 22.Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission — Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC)
  23. 23.Tanzania Private Sector Federation — Tanzania Private Sector Federation (TPSF)
  24. 24.Who We Are — Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA)
  25. 25.AGCOT (formerly SAGCOT Centre) — Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania
  26. 26.Education Institutes — Ministry of Agriculture, Tanzania
  27. 27.Sokoine University of Agriculture — Sokoine University of Agriculture
  28. 28.Tanzania Mercantile Exchange PLC — Tanzania Mercantile Exchange
  29. 29.BRELA website — Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA)
  30. 30.Budget of the Ministry of Industry and Trade — Ministry of Industry and Trade, Tanzania
  31. 31.Who are we — Cereals and Other Produce Board of Tanzania (CPB)
  32. 32.Starting business, income for individuals and paying taxes — Tanzania Revenue Authority
  33. 33.Financial deepening (credit guarantee schemes) — Bank of Tanzania
  34. 34.Farmers earn record through warehouse receipt system — The Respondents (press)

Not yet verified for this country

We looked for these but could not confirm them from an official source yet.

Opportunities where local rules matter most

Regional trade: the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is relevant when trading between African countries. Check current rules with national customs and trade authorities and the AfCFTA Secretariat before acting.

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