By Mwanamkasi Jumbe
Tanzania’s ambition to build a more competitive poultry industry will depend less on individual projects than on the ability of farmers, financiers, input suppliers, technology companies and government to work as one value chain.
That was one of the strongest messages to emerge from the 10th Global Agri Expo, held alongside the 3rd Future Food, Livestock and Poultry Expo in Dar es Salaam, where industry players turned the spotlight on the partnerships needed to unlock agriculture’s commercial potential.
“No single organisation or person can do anything alone. We need to collaborate, we need to partner,” said Tula Mloge, Head of Partnerships and Communication at the Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania (AGCOT).
The push comes as Tanzania seeks to translate its growing poultry population into a larger contribution to the economy. The National Poultry Development Strategy 2020–2036, launched during Nane Nane in August, provides a policy framework for that ambition.
Poultry was identified as a strategic value chain by AGCOT in 2019. Since then, discussions among government, farmers, businesses and development partners have evolved into the Poultry Compact and its 2024–2028 Implementation Plan.
The economics of feed
The commercial case for poultry is compelling. Globally, poultry is among the fastest-growing sources of affordable animal protein, while Africa’s expanding urban population is driving demand for meat and eggs.
Tanzania already has a substantial production base. According to the 2019/20 census, about 3.7 million of the country’s 4.7 million farming households keep poultry. The national flock increased from 79.1 million birds in 2019 to more than 108 million in 2024/25.
The new strategy targets annual poultry meat production of more than 380,000 tonnes and egg production of 17 billion by 2036, while seeking to double poultry’s contribution to GDP to 3 percent.
But expanding production will require tackling one of the industry’s biggest cost pressures: feed.
“Seventy per cent of the cost of making a poultry product goes to feed,” Mloge said.
That puts maize and soybean at the centre of the industry’s competitiveness. Maize provides the main energy component of poultry feed, while soybean supplies protein.
Tanzania’s challenge is therefore bigger than increasing the number of chickens. It must build a reliable domestic supply of affordable feed ingredients.
Soybean opportunity
The gap in soybean production illustrates the scale of the opportunity.
Through the Tanzania Sustainable Soybean Initiative, AGCOT is seeking to expand domestic production, currently estimated at around 20,000 tonnes against demand of up to 300,000 tonnes.
Closing that gap could have implications across the poultry value chain. More locally produced soybean could reduce dependence on imports, lower feed costs and improve the competitiveness of Tanzanian poultry producers.
It could also create a new commercial opportunity for farmers, processors, aggregators and feed manufacturers.
This is where the partnership model becomes important.
Rather than operating primarily as a project implementer, AGCOT positions itself as a convenor, bringing government, farmers, feed manufacturers, financial institutions and researchers together to address constraints affecting entire value chains.
The approach recognises that solving one problem in isolation will not necessarily make the industry competitive.
Finance and technology
Private-sector players are increasingly becoming part of that ecosystem.
James Mtonyi, Chief Executive Officer of the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), said the organisation has reached 70,000 farmers and 500 agro-dealers in Tanzania by improving access to agricultural inputs and finance.
Meanwhile, Agricom Africa Limited Marketing Officer Salvatory Chengula highlighted the role of partnerships with equipment manufacturers, including Kubota, and financial institutions in making mechanisation more accessible to farmers.
For agriculture to become a serious engine of economic transformation, however, technology must be matched with business models that farmers can afford.
Tahir Hulgari, CEO of TAB Group, the organiser of the expo, said technology transfer needs to reflect the realities of African agriculture, where farms are often small and capital is limited.
Digital tools delivered through mobile phones, affordable mechanisation and technologies such as vertical farming, he argued, could also make agriculture more attractive to young people.
That shift is increasingly important as Tanzania looks for ways to create productive employment for its growing working-age population.
From exhibition to investment
The growing presence of international companies at agricultural exhibitions also points to another opportunity: attracting investment into local production and manufacturing.
Companies from India, Europe and the Middle East participated in the expo, with interest ranging from dealerships to potential manufacturing opportunities.
The challenge now is to convert exhibition-floor connections into long-term commercial relationships, technology transfers, local manufacturing and investment.
For Tanzania, the poultry opportunity therefore extends well beyond chicken production.
A competitive poultry industry can stimulate demand for maize and soybean, create markets for feed manufacturers, generate business for equipment suppliers and logistics companies, expand financial services and support employment across the value chain.
The real test will be whether stakeholders can turn these connections into commercially viable businesses.
For Mloge, the principle is straightforward: “A challenge for one is an opportunity for another.” That may ultimately be the most important lesson from the expo. Tanzania’s poultry transformation will not be delivered by a single flagship project. It will come from connecting farmers, feed producers, financiers, technology providers, policymakers and markets into a functioning and competitive ecosystem.
