Market Led Agricultural Programme (MLAP): A four pronged approach to raise agriculture productivity and Profitability

The agrarian economy of Tanzania accounts for half of the national income. Three quarters of Tanzanian exports are agricultural products. Agriculture provides employment for 80 percent of Tanzanians and is an essential food source for the whole population.

Nevertheless, the agricultural sector in Tanzania faces several challenges; inaccessibility to markets by smallholders, droughts, low capitalization and low productivity due to the lack of access to appropriate farm inputs. To address these issues, a partnership was formed between four organisations; World Vision Tanzania, Farm Concern International, SEDA (A VisionFund microfinance institution) and MicroEnsure.

Together, they designed an integrated approach to increase agricultural productivity and profitability, collectively known as the Market Led Agricultural Programme (MLAP). The aim of MLAP is to improve community resilience, ensure food security, implement climate change adaptation and ensure the well-being of children. Each consortium member plays a different role; World Vision mobilizes farmers and forms farmer producer groups; Farm Concern facilitates the linkages between suppliers and markets, SEDA provides loans for buying agricultural input products; and MicroEnsure provides insurance to farmers.

A pilot project was set up in Ndungu Division, Same District in Northern Tanzania Makindube and involved 5,095 rice growers within the Makindube ADP. Tendwa Athmani lives in Makindube ADP and is married with three children. Two of his children are in primary school. Prior to joining MLAP, Tendwa had difficulties cultivating rice and sold what he could at a low price. Since joining the programme, Tendwa has experienced economic progress. Tendwa took out a loan of 350,000 TZS / $225 USD from SEDA, VisionFund’s microfinance institution in Tanzania.

He used it to extend his plot from ¾ acres to 1¼ acres. He has since begun to pay back his loan. ‘Before MLAP I was taking money from local venders who lent me 15,000 TZS. And then I returned one bag of rice which was worth 50,000 TZS after harvests,’ explained Tendwa. He added that ‘It was a big loss. Nowadays I do not need take out such loans since we have SEDA.’ Part of the project was to carry out market research and identify the variety of rice with good market value and that provides more yields.

Tendwa chose to grow Saro 5 rice. He explained that Saro 5 was introduced by MLAP and was a popular market product because of its good aroma. ‘Before, I was cultivating Japan rice, which had no market, and I was not getting enough yields,’ he said. ‘With MLAP, I have managed to bring tap water into my home. My family now enjoys water; my children are clean because they can wash their clothes every day.’ Tendwa said.

Mwantumu Ally also joined MLAP and has experienced a positive life transformation in a short period of time. She also took out a loan from SEDA and feels confident that she can upgrade from being a small scale grower to become a large and well established rice farmer. ‘Within just a short period of time, we are already seeing the differences,’ Mwantumu said.

Mwantumu lives as a single woman after divorcing her husband. She has five children, all of whom are in school. Her eldest child Ruth Ally is at secondary school. Ruth said ‘I have seen the benefits of my mother joining MLAP because nowadays we have a better diet and my school fees are paid on time.’

Mwantumu also took out insurance from MicroEnsure as she lives in an area that is vulnerable to floods. She is one of the farmers whose farms were swept by floods last season but she could still re-plant her crops because she was compensated through MLAP. ‘I feel secure through the insurance’ she said. Mwantumu is also celebrating being free from middle men who were making her community poorer. Immanuel Mbwambo is another rice grower from Makindube who has benefitted from the integrated project. ‘I have doubled my income through MLAP,’ said Immanuel Mbwambo.

Before joining MLAP Immanuel was cultivating ½ acre of land, but after joining MLAP he was able to increase his farm plot to 1¼ acres. He explained that, ‘after harvesting I sold 20 bags of rice and managed to start pig farming. I also bought a sewing machine for my wife’. As well has reinvesting his money into more input, Immanuel was able to pay the school fees for his three children and keep 5 bags of rice just for his family