TANZANIA – The Tanzania Fertilizer Regulatory Authority (TFRA) projects that fertilizer use in the country will reach 1 million tonnes by the 2024/2025 agricultural season, Daily News TZ reports.
This represents a 20% increase from the 840,000 tonnes used in the previous season, reflecting growing recognition of the role of fertilizers in enhancing agricultural productivity and food security.
Speaking on the subject, Joël Laurent, Director General of TFRA, indicates that this increase reflects the growing recognition of fertilizers’ role in improving agricultural productivity and food security in the country.
“We want all farmers to use fertilizers to maximize production and thus ensure a surplus of food in the country while guaranteeing exports.”
To support this goal, the Tanzanian government has implemented a national fertilizer subsidy program that reduces farmers’ fertilizer costs by over 50%.
Despite these efforts, Tanzania remains heavily dependent on imports, which currently fulfill about 86% of the country’s fertilizer needs. Fertilizer usage in Tanzania was estimated at just 9.3 kg per hectare of arable land in 2021, far below the 50 kg per hectare recommended by the Abuja Declaration of 2006.
The government, however, has bet to reduce the import burden through investments.
Recently, the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC), TFRA, and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ESSA of Indonesia to develop a new fertilizer plant in the Mtwara region.
This ambitious project, valued at Sh3.5 trillion (US$1.3 billion), is slated to span from 2024 to 2029 and will leverage Tanzania’s vast natural gas reserves, which total 54.57 trillion standard cubic feet.
Francis Mwakapalila, Acting Managing Director of TPDC, assured that supply to the plant would not be an issue, given the underutilization of Tanzania’s natural gas reserves.
“The natural gas reserve in Tanzania is 54.57 trillion standard cubic feet. But since we started exploiting natural gas, we have not even consumed more than 1 trillion cubic feet, so supply to the plant will not be a problem,” said Francis Mwakapalila, Acting Managing Director of TPDC.
The plant is expected to allocate 60% of its production to the local market, reducing reliance on imports and boosting agricultural productivity, while the remaining 40% will be exported, positioning Tanzania as a significant player in the international fertilizer market.
This investment is also expected to generate over 400,000 new jobs, strengthening the national economy and offering a substantial boost to the local workforce.
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