Higher fertilisers demand behind Sh346 billion expenditure on subsidy

Dar es Salaam. Higher demand for fertiliser has pushed the government to spend Sh345.647 billion on subsidies by April 2023.

The amount is Sh195.65 billion higher than the Sh150 billion that was initially issued by President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the introduction of the programme in the 2022/23 season.

The provision of subsidised fertiliser was one of the Sixth Phase government’s initiatives aimed at increasing productivity and efficiency in the country’s agriculture so as to improve food security and the access to raw materials by domestic industries.

Tabling the 2023/24 budget in Parliament on May 8, 2023, Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said the money has been utilised to procure 342.73 million tonnes of fertiliser, which has benefited 782,553 farmers across the country.

He named the five top beneficiary regions and the quantity of fertiliser utilised by farmers in brackets as Ruvuma (71,526.8), Mbeya (52,864.5), Njombe (51,465), Songwe (50,653), and Iringa (26,369.2). Other regions are Simiyu (183.05), Lindi (269.7), Dodoma (313.9), Kagera (545.7), and Geita (808).

Recently, the Tanzania Fertilizer Regulatory Authority (TFRA) executive director, Dr Stephan Ngailo, said the subsidy programme would be executed for three consecutive seasons.

But the minister said in his budget speech that the government’s initiatives are expected to increase production of traditional cash crops from 951,727.8 tonnes in 2022/23 to 1.579 million tonnes in 2023/24.

According to the document, sisal production is forecast to reach 60,000 tonnes in 2023/24 from 48,263 tonnes in 2022/23.

“Honourable Speaker, in the year 2023/24, the ministry, through the Tanzania Tea Board (TTB), will increase production to 30,000 tonnes from 25,295.5 tonnes in 2022/23,” reads part of the document.

Further production forecasts show that cotton and cashew production were expected to hit 400,000 tonnes from 174,921.5 tonnes and 175,269 in 2022/23 respectively.

About 4.5 million tonnes of sugarcane will be produced in the new farming season, which will increase sugar production to 465,000 tonnes.

In the 2022/23, the country produced 456.03 tonnes of sugar from 4.405 million tonnes of sugarcane, which is equal to 101.34 percent of the target, according to the document.

However, despite increasing coffee production to 80,301 tonnes by April 2023 (38,405 tonnes of Arabica and 41,896 tonnes of Robusta), only 75,000 tonnes will be harvested next season.

“Honourable Speaker, in the year 2023/24, pyrethrum production is expected to increase from 3,150 tonnes in 2022/23 season to 3,500 tonnes,” reads another part of the document. The ministry’s speech says the Tanzania Tobacco Board (TTB) plans to increase production from 60,874.9 tonnes in 2022/23 to 160,000 tonnes in 2023/24.

The document shows that legal measures have been extended to about 11 fertilizer dealers for breaching sections of the Tanzania Fertilisers Act, Cap. 378 of 2009, during the provision of the subsidised fertilisers.

The TFRA has taken such measures against dealers in Ruvuma, Mbeya, Songwe, Njombe, and Dodoma regions, with the document saying some of these cases are being investigated by police, others have been charged, and cases are at different levels.

Last month, Dr Ngailo launched the farmers’ registration season for the second round of fertiliser distribution to farmers across the country.

He told a press conference that the exercise would be used to address challenges that were apparent in the 2022/23 season.

The challenges include the failure to reach farmers in peripheral regions, reducing walking distances in search of subsidised fertiliser, and eliminating deceit.