The scope of this study is Tanzania, with particular focus on Karagwe, Magu, Ngara and Sengerema districts. The following section provides an overview of the study area.
2.1.1 Overview of Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa. Its covers 940,000 square kilometres, which include Tanzania mainland and the islands of Zanzibar (URT 2006a). Geographically, Tanzania lies south of the equator and borders eight countries: Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the west; and Malawi and Mozambique to the south (URT 2004a). Administratively, Tanzania mainland is divided into 21 regions and the island of Zanzibar into five regions. Each region is subdivided into districts (129 in total), each district into wards (2,787) and each ward into villages (URT 2004b; URT 2006a).
2.1.2 Population
According to the 2002 census, Tanzania had a population of 34.6 million. Of the 34.6 million people 16.9 million people are males and 17.7 million are females. The growth rate of the population is 2.9 percent per annum (URT 2000b: 87). The Tanzanian population is sparsely
distributed, with about 39 persons per square kilometres (URT 2002b). The life expectancy at birth for Tanzanian is 46 years and adult literacy rate stands at 69.4 percent (UNDP 2005).
2.1.3 Economic conditions
Economically, Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita of US$294 (URT 2004b). The prevalence of income poverty is high in Tanzania, with 35.7 percent of the population living below the poverty datum line of one US dollar per day (URT 2005a). Tanzania has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.418 and it ranks 164 out of all countries in the world in terms of Human Development Index (UNDP 2005). In 2004 Tanzania experienced a GDP growth rate of 6.7 per cent, which exceeded the targeted level of an annual increase of six per cent (URT 2005c). However, much of this growth was attributed to the macroeconomic reforms which the country adopted in the 1990s. Therefore this growth rate caused only a small reduction in rural poverty rates, because poverty is deeper among rural households than among urban households. The challenge that the country is currently facing is how to sustain this growth rate and ensure that the benefits of growth are broadly shared (URT 2005c).
Agriculture5 remains by far the sector with the largest share of the GDP in Tanzania Its share averages approximately 50 percent since 1990 (Intelcom Research and Consultancy 2002;
URT 2005a). However, topography and climatic conditions limit the overall cultivated area to only 5.5 percent of the arable land area (URT 2005c). Major cash crops grown in Tanzania are tea, tobacco, sisal, coffee, cashew nuts and cotton (URT 2004b). Other sectors of economic significance are mining and tourism. By the year 2004 the contribution of various sectors to the Tanzanian GDP was as is shown in Table 2.1.
5In this section the study refers to agriculture in Tanzania in general which includes large scale and small scale, cash crops and food crops cultivation. However, in the areas where this study was conducted only small scale cultivation of both food and cash crops was being practised
Table 2.1: Sectoral contribution to GDP
Sector Contribution to GDP (%)
Agriculture 46
Mining 2
Manufacturing 7
Utility (electricity and water) 2
Construction 6
Commerce 11
Transport 3
Communication 1
Finance 13
Administration 9
Source: URT (2004b)
2.1.4 Tanzania and rural development
Tanzania is one of the most rural countries in Africa, with over 70 percent of the population living in rural areas (Intelcom Research and Consultancy 2002; URT 2005c). This is above the African average of 65 percent (UNDP 2003). The major economic activity in rural areas of Tanzania is agriculture, which is mainly driven by smallholder producers. Other livelihoods activities in rural areas of Tanzania include small-scale businesses, fishing and livestock-keeping. (see section 4.6.3 in Chapter Four).
These smallholder producers, in most cases, have limited education and experience, are frequently exposed to shocks and have to deal with weak institutional arrangements for production. This has led to low increases in agricultural production and insufficient improvement in the quality of production (URT 2005c). Other constraints facing the agricultural sector in Tanzania include over dependence on rain-fed agriculture; poor research-extension-farmer linkages; low participation of farmers in decision making; low status of agro-processing industry; poor post-harvesting systems and poor policies. The impacts of these constraints are often aggravated by a serious lack of access to reliable and timely agricultural information by not only farmers, but also extension workers, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders (Chailla 2001).
According to the Tanzanian Household Budget Survey of 2002, 80 percent of the poor in Tanzania are rural (URT 2002b) and 81 percent of the poor live in households where the main economic activity of the head of the household is agriculture. Agriculture employs more than 70 percent of Tanzanians (Intelcom Research and Consultancy 2002; URT 2002a).
Agriculture therefore deserves prominence in the discussion of growth and poverty. The low rate of agricultural growth is perhaps the main reason why reduction in rural poverty is slow, despite the recent high growth rate of the economy as a whole. Significant poverty reduction depends on higher growth in the rural economy and particularly in the agricultural sector (URT 2005c).
Improved rural growth will depend on increased productivity and quality in agriculture.
Experience shows that agriculture, including forestry and fisheries, is a powerful engine for development, helping to increase food security and lower food prices, create employment and generate income for the rural poor, alleviate rural and urban poverty; protect and conserve the environment, stimulate development in the rest of the economy, and ensure overall prosperity through the stimulation of global trade and greater global political stability (Kapange 2000).
ICTs, if properly deployed, can play an important role in promoting growth of the agricultural sector in rural areas. ICTs may help farmers get access to information that can help them make the best use of other resources at their disposal (Ozcatalbas, Brumfield and Ozkan 2004), as well as assist them to communicate fast and conveniently. Cecchini and Scott (2005) asserted that ICTs can help farmers by connecting them to markets. UNDP (2005b) saw ICTs as an increasingly powerful tool that can allow rural farmers to participate in global markets, improving the delivery of basic services and enhancing local development opportunities.
Howard, Fox and Turvey (1996) stated that information influences agricultural production by affecting the economic quantity and timing of inputs and activities, ranging from quantities of fertiliser, timing and quantity of irrigation and the timing and efficacy of risk-reducing and production-enhancing inputs. Knowledge and information are basic ingredients of food
security and are essential for facilitating rural development and bringing about social and economic change (Munyua 2000: 98).
Rural areas should be given priority as far as the overall economic development of Tanzania is concerned. Poverty reduction strategies should adequately address the agricultural sector and people living in rural areas. ICT sector development in rural areas should be given priority, to give farmers access to ICT tools. This will help them increase agricultural production and give them more opportunities for marketing their agricultural products.