PERSPECTIVES ON ENHANCING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY THROUGH MARKET ACCESS INTRODUCTION

Introduction Efforts to fight poverty and promote food security in developing countries including Tanzania need to take into account that agriculture remains the main livelihood for large number of poor farmers and rural families. Agriculture is the main source of food and income in many developing countries. While agricultural development interventions enhancing technologies uptake can lead to improvements in productivity and contribute to farm output growth, converting product intensification into a sustainable source of farm income means that attention also needs to be paid to the promotion of market access.

Introduction cont……… Given the predominant role of agriculture in the livelihood of most Tanzanians, any strategy for reducing poverty in the country must centre on rapid growth in the agricultural sector through reliable market access. It is perceived that improvement in market access increases agricultural productivity first by facilitating specialization and exchange transaction in rural areas, and secondly through intensification of technologies.

Introduction cont……….. Also there is widespread perception that, while agricultural development intervention enhancing technology uptake can lead to improvements in productivity and contribute to farm output growth, this means that attention must be given to the constraints smallholder farmers face especially fostering smallholder farmers access to; productive technology, efficient input markets and better paying and efficient output markets. Market access help to alleviate poverty through commercializing agriculture and result in uniform distribution of incomes and improvement in household welfare.

Agriculture in the economy Agriculture is an important sector in developing countries and Tanzania in particular due to its contribution to the national income. It has a contribution of about 31.5% of the total Gross Domestic Product. Traditionally, agricultural commodities such as cotton, tobacco, cashew nuts, tea, sisal and coffee have been the main exports. However, production of these crops has gone down mainly due to market problems.

Challenges in agriculture It is often asserted that agriculture in Tanzania is on the decline since productivity is still low. The evidence often addressed in support of this is the quite evident decrease in sector’s contribution or share in the Gross Domestic Product. Another assertion as evidence to the decline of agriculture is that agricultural growth is low standing to about 4% so this is an indication that the sector is growing at a very low pace. However, there are challenges which have been observed to constrain agricultural productivity including:

Challenges cont…………. Low adoption of agricultural technologies Lack of reliable market for the produced crops Poor physical infrastructure such as roads, storage facilities Unreliable policies Climate change High prices of agricultural inputs There are so many problems confronting agriculture. However, these few constraints can help to strategize how to enhance sustainable growth and development of agriculture in Tanzania.

How to enhance agricultural productivity and adoption of technologies As observed, there are so many constraints in the agricultural sector which have resulted into low agricultural productivity. On the other hand, low adoption of agricultural technologies has impacted productivity in the farm sector. But, it is perceived that if market access problem is solved it is likely to solve the other problems. If there is reliable road network, storage facilities, processing facilities, proper contract farming, reliable policies and other related market access entities it is possible to solve some of the problems in agriculture. Reliable road network will simplify transportation of inputs and outputs. On the other hand roads will reduce the cost of production to some extent.

How to enhance cont……….. Farmers will be able to store their crops at times when the price is low and wait for attractive prices. Furthermore, it is perceived that when there are reliable roads the prices of inputs is likely to be affordable by most farmers. Thus, most farmers will be able to use inputs in their farms. Due to attractive prices, in turn farmers would like to produce more and therefore increase productivity. Thus, in order to attain high productivity as a result of improved market access farmers will adopt recommended agricultural technologies including application of improved seeds, fertilizers and insecticides.

Conclusion Agriculture remain an important sector to the economy of Tanzania despite of its low contribution to the GDP. Again the sector employs more than 70 percent of Tanzanians and there is high potential for growth. So strengthening this sector means improving the livelihood of most Tanzanians and the economy.