Agricultural Planning and Development

AGRICULTURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Overview of Agriculture in Tanzania

The agricultural sector in Tanzania is of great
potential
It has more than 44 million hectares of arable land,
and a wide variety of ecological zones, climates and
water resources.

The country could feed most of the East, Central and
Southern African countries with food deficits. 80% of the
population in Tanzania lives in rural areas and are in some
way or another depending on agriculture.
The agricultural sector is vital to Tanzania’s economy and
therefore also to the reduction and eradication of poverty.
AGRICULTURAL PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
• Still, agriculture is in broad terms neglected and unexploited.
• Exports are lower now than in 1960s and 1970s (WB, 2000), and
productivity is very low.
• A Tanzanian farmer produces food for two people (a farmer from EU
produces enough food for 130 people).
• As a result there is food shortage and food is imported.
DEVELOPMENT
• The late Julius Nyerere, the founder of the Tanzanian nation,
pointed already more than 30 years ago at the neglecting of
agriculture in spite of its importance for development.
• He said, "…we have treated agriculture as if it was
something peripheral or just another activity in the country, to
be treated at par with all the others, and used by the others
without having any special claim upon them…"(1982).
DEVELOPMENT
What is Planning?
• Planning is a dynamic profession that works to improve the welfare
of people and their communities by creating more convenient,
equitable, healthful, efficient and attractive places for present and
future
• Planning helps communities to envision (imagine) their future.
• It helps them find the right balance of new development and
essential services, environmental protection, and innovative
change.
DEVELOPMENT
What Do Planners Do?
• Professional planners help create a broad vision for the
community.
• They also research, design, and develop programs; lead public
processes; effect social change; perform technical analyses;
manage and educate.
• Some planners focus on just some of these roles, such as
transportation planning, but most will work at many kinds of
planning throughout their careers.
DEVELOPMENT
Meaning of Agricultural planning
It is the development of plans and measures to achieve
greater and more efficient output from agriculture.
 A sound agricultural policy should be able to reconcile
(resolve) three basic needs:
• The production of food and agricultural products,
• The protection of the environment and
• The maintenance of the socio-economic structure of rural areas
(DOBRISa, 2011).
•This refers to how planners develop national,
regional, district, or investment plans and
projects as well as line agency programs that
are compatible with the goals strategies and
policies set by policy makers.
• Planners may be economists, social scientists or technical
specialists employed in the planning units of the Ministry of
Agriculture or its various line agencies, like extension or
livestock services, or in national or international
development NGOs and agencies.
• Managers may also be involved in planning, especially in
programs planning for line agencies.
DEVELOPMENT
Why Agricultural Planning is an Issue
• As rural communities debate whether and how to develop
local plans, the issue of farmland preservation often arises.
• Today the issue of farmland has been under increasing
pressure because a relatively poor agricultural economy
prompted (driven) farmers to sell land and a robust (strong)
nonfarm economy enabled many urban dwellers to realize
their dream of living in the country.
• Other few communities who depend exclusively on the farm
sector, farming and the processing of farm products is a
significant local source of income and employment.
• From an economic standpoint, agricultural lands provide
significant revenues to local governments and require
relatively few services in return.
• Though difficult to quantify, the rural and open character of
agricultural landscapes also provides the community with
attractive views and a high quality of life.
• Development can also negatively impact the viability of
commercial farms.
Challenges to Agricultural Planning
• Many of rural areas and agricultural counties face similar staffing in
budgetary and political limitations on planning for agricultural issues.
• Effective planning for agriculture requires cooperation with non-rural
communities. While farming is often associated with rural life, the
towns located nearest to the edges of cities and villages tend to be
the places where conflicts between farmers and non farmers occur
and where the pressure for converting (change) land out of
agriculture is most intense.
Challenges to Agricultural Planning
• There is also the question of what is agriculture? It may be
that the initial image of agriculture is the small family farm.
Other kinds of farming, however, may be common or even
dominant in the community, the county or the region.
• The distinctions (difference) in agriculture range along
several, deciding on a common planning approach can be a
challenge.
DEVELOPMENT
Why Plan for Agriculture?
• Planning for Agriculture is a comprehensive guide for local government
planners, farmers, and other stakeholders who provide a detailed review of
plan and bylaw delivery systems and how agriculture can best fit within these
processes.
• The importance of a more focused effort to plan for agriculture's sustainability
through the adoption of agricultural area plans' and the detailed development
of land use policy along critical portions of agriculture's interface are
highlighted (Barry, 1998).
• Restrictions on nonfarm development in agricultural areas
protect the nation’s long-term food production and the rural
areas. Farmers will receive the benefit of fewer conflicts with
nonfarm neighbors, an intact and accessible agricultural
infrastructure, and more affordable farmland.
• Farmers may have the additional security of knowing that
their area will remain agricultural for the foreseeable future.
• Planning for Agriculture is broadly focused on developing strong
working relationships between local governments, the farm
community and the province to ensure that agriculture is given
appropriate consideration in local government planning processes.
• Non farmers get protection of the visual aesthetics of their rural
properties and may be more willing to tolerate the noise, dust, and
odors of a farming operation if a community has identified an area
as agriculturally important.
• To make leaders and planners work to find creative solutions that attempt to
guide nonfarm development on agricultural lands. Usually this involves
ensuring that development occurs in a way that minimizes the impact on prime
(major) agricultural resources and farming operations.
• These efforts allow farmland owners to realize some of the benefits of
development, while protecting the core agriculture resource for ongoing and
future farming operations.
• In some cases, communities are also required to save farmland by making
agriculture a more economically successful enterprise. In fact, the whole point
of an effective planning process is to be able to find the plan language and
policies that best “fit” each community in rural areas.
• Specific local priorities, compromises, and views on public
regulations over private land management decisions will necessarily
generate different outcomes in each place.
• The emphasis here is on developing a good process and providing
enough information about the trends, community goals, and
possible strategies to encourage an informed community
discussion.
Examples of some areas that can overlap between agriculture and
planning process include;
1. Agricultural, Natural and Cultural Resources
2. Housing
3. Transportation
4. Utilities and Community Facilities
5. Economic Development
6. Land Use
DEVELOPMENT
Types of agricultural planning
• Development planning, including agricultural planning, may
be divided into two basic categories: centralized and
decentralized
• In a centralized planning system all major policy, planning,
and programming, and budgeting decisions for the sector as
a whole and for sub-sector line agencies are made at the
national level.
The Fourth Phase Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is
determined to bring about Green Revolution between 2006 and 2015. In order
to realize this, the government intends to do the following:
1. Introducing machinery, especially tractors and other machinery, to hasten
the shift from outdated subsistence farming. This will be facilitated by a
special fund to provide loans to farmers to help them hire tractors.
2. Introduction of modernized irrigation farming that involves the construction
of canals to ensure constant supply of water during rainy and dry seasons.
3. Improving farmers’ access to inputs, especially water, animal drug,
fertilizers and pesticides (Tarimo, 2006).
4. Improving farmers’ access to reliable internal and external markets for crop
and livestock products.
DEVELOPMENT
• The Fourth Phase Government of the United Republic of Tanzania is
determined to bring about Green Revolution between 2006 and 2015. In order
to realize this, the government intends to do the following:
5. Increasing agricultural and livestock officers’ knowledge and skills.
6. Increasing crop and livestock producers’ knowledge and skills.
7. Improving services in the agricultural and livestock sectors.
8. Reviving national ranches across the country to improve production of
quality livestock products.
9. Reviving seed farms across the country to increase agricultural productivity.

Agricultural Planning and Development

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Agricultural Planning and Development

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AGRICULTURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Overview of Agriculture in Tanzania

Overview of Agriculture in Tanzania

You might also like