Mwanza — AGRICULTURE is the foundation of the Tanzanian economy. It accounts for about half of the national income, three quarters of merchandise exports and is source of food and provides employment opportunities to about 80 per cent of Tanzanians.

It has linkages with the non-farm sector through forward linkages to agro-processing, consumption and export; provides raw materials to industries and a market for manufactured goods. Agriculture in Tanzania is dominated by smallholder farmers (peasants) cultivating an average farm sizes of between 0.9 hectares and 3.0 hectares each.

About 70 per cent of Tanzania's crop area is cultivated by hand hoe, 20 per cent by ox plough and 10 per cent by tractor. It is rainfed agriculture. Food crop production dominates the agriculture economy 5.1 million ha. are cultivated annually, of which 85 per cent is under food crops. Women constitute the main part of agricultural labour force.

The major constraint facing the agriculture sector is the falling labour and land productivity due to application of poor technology, dependence on unreliable and irregular weather conditions. Both crops and livestock are adversely affected by periodical droughts. Irrigation holds the key to stabilizing agricultural production in Tanzania to improve food security, increase farmers' productivity and incomes, and also to produce higher valued crops such as vegetables and even flowers.

Urban agriculture has flourished as a household - level initiative to cope with economic hardships encountered as a result of raising cost of living. Urban agriculture that consists of raising and growing of vegetable and food crops is found in Tanzanian towns and

cities where the ready market for Agricultural products are found. Producers of vegetables, milk, broilers' meat and eggs sell to private households and to school, hotels, hospitals, bars, cafeterias and restaurants.

Agricultural GDP has grown at 3.3 per cent per year since 1985, the main food crops at 3.5 per cent and export crops at 5.4 per cent per year. Considering that the overall GDP growth target for halving abject poverty by 2010 is in the range of 6-7 per cent, this performance falls short of the needed growth. The macro economic reforms have and continue to have had significant impact on the Agriculture sector.

The economic reforms have led to the opening up of the sector to private investment in production and processing, input importation and distribution and agricultural marketing. Most of production and processing and marketing functions have been assigned to the private

sector. The government has retained regulatory and public Support functions or facilitation role. Farmers are free to sell their crops to cooperatives or private traders.

Due to competition, normal producer prices for food and export crops have increased as such farmers can now sell their produce much faster. Farmers are no longer confined to a single source for their essential inputs for crops and livestock. The government recognizes the pivotal role of the agricultural sector both in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction.

Also the strong influence of factors outside the sector such as infrastructure, rural financial services, land ownership and good governance is recognised. Priority actions include: - The pursuit of macroeconomic policies that will motivate investment in agriculture by small holders and large - scale commercial farmers. - Creation of an enabling environment and provide proactive support to private operators, farmers organizations, NGOs and CBOs supplying inputs and credit to small farmers and ensuring a strong regulatory mechanism.

Concentration of budgetary allocations in agriculture research and extension. - Provision of special support to investments in agricultural processing particularly in fruits and vegetables and accord top priority to implementation of new land Act The agriculture sector will remain to be a catalyst in improving the country's economy. This is due to the fact that the majority of Tanzanians about 80 per cent are still depending on hand hoe farming.

The sector is facing challenges which include the shortage of extension workers, chemicals and equipment. However, in order to boost the sector, the government on its part has been providing incentives to the small farmers so as to boost production including providing fertilizers. One of the measures taken by the fourth phase government to boost the farmers efforts is the introduction of Kilimo Kwanza Initiative, which has become now a slogan for improving the agriculture sector.

That is why some of the stakeholders such as economists, NGOs have seen the importance of investing in sector so as to improve the country's socio-economic development. One of those stakeholders involved in improving sector include the Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and Rural Technology (CAMARTEC), a parastatal organization which was established by Act of Parliament No.19 of 1981.

CAMARTEC started functioning in 1982 and its mandate is to undertake professional skills and the dissemination of appropriate technologies in the field of agricultural mechanization and rural technology. The Director General for CAMARTEC Eng Everest Ngw'andu says that the centre is located at Njiro, Themi Area in Arusha town. He says the centre's vision is to become a leader in the provision of agricultural and rural development technologies in Tanzania and neighbouring countries.

'Our goal of establishing the centre is to improve the livelihood and boost the country's economic development through designing and manufacturing of improved agricultural mechanization and technologies. "Our function is to carry out applied research to facilitate the designing, adaptation and development of machinery and equipment suitable for use in agricultural and rural development and also developing and manufacturing approved prototypes and agricultural technologies and evaluate their suitability in rural agricultural production," he says.

Ngw'andu says that the centre has now accumulated experience spanning over two decades in design, development, manufacturing and dissemination of technologies that enables it to design a number of technologies including renewable technologies such as wind mill, solar energy and water heaters in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Singida and Shinyanga regions.