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Options for reducing fertilizer prices for smallholder farmers in Tanzania










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    Book (stand-alone)
    Assessment of the fertilizer market and bulk procurement system in the United Republic of Tanzania
    Policy report
    2021
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    The United Republic of Tanzania has a predominantly agricultural economy, with agriculture accounting for more than two-thirds of employment in rural areas and representing 30 percent of GDP. Yet, by global standards and even by the standards of Developing Countries, crop yields in the county are low. Using improved seeds and mineral fertilizers is therefore critical to promoting growth in crop productivity, food production and sustaining the natural resource base, especially among the smallholder farmers who subsist on nutrient-poor soils. In 2016, The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries (MALF) of the United Republic of Tanzania requested an assessment of the potential costs and benefits of a proposed Bulk Procurement System (BPS) for fertilizer imports that would consolidate international procurement to save costs, ultimately improving the affordability for farmers. This assessment was jointly carried out and submitted to MALF in 2017 by FAO and the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), and presents an analysis of the fertilizer market, the proposed BPS policy, and interviews with over one hundred public, private, and civil society stakeholders. The findings indicate that the proposed system would likely not reduce prices for farmers and could negatively affect availability and market competition – causing prices to increase in the long term. The authors therefore recommend against its implementation pending further consultations, or to pilot the system with careful review and evaluation. The report also presents alternative policy options for the short and medium term to improve overall efficiency in the value chain and ultimately make fertilizer more affordable for Tanzanian smallholder farmers.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Options for low emission development in the Tanzania dairy sector - reducing enteric methane for food security and livelihoods 2019
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    Given the importance of the dairy sector to livelihoods and its potential role in poverty reduction, this study evaluates the potential for improving milk production while reducing enteric methane (CH4) emission intensity from dairy production in Tanzania. The study reveals that improved management practices and technologies can increase milk productivity while reducing methane emission intensity in both traditional and improved dairy systems. The economic analysis shows that in improved systems, all interventions assessed were cost-beneficial, however the analysis indicates that in traditional systems, both the baseline scenario and mitigation options present economic returns of less than 1. Although the economic analysis might not directly support the application of mitigation practices in traditional systems, the study does not exclude the importance of mitigation action focusing specifically on traditional systems since their existence and persistence is already threated by the effects of climatic variability and climate change. All the mitigation options analyzed in this study presented significant gains in productivity, which in practice can generate improvements in food and nutrition security, as well as boost farmers’ incomes. Moreover, some of the mitigation options can maintain and/or improve herd parameters, feed resources and water supply during and after climate shocks, supporting these systems to move from relief to resilience.
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Building Resilient Agricultural Systems through Farmer Field Schools
    Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme
    2015
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    Since 2001, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has worked with more than 180 000 farmers in West Africa to build more productive and resilient agricultural systems through the Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme (IPPM). Based on a well-tested farmer field school (FFS) approach, this participatory, community-based educational method combines principles and practices from community development, non-formal education, agroecology and adaptive ecosystem management.

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