Agricultural history nexus food security and policy framework in Tanzania

Abstract

BackgroundUnderstanding the production trend of the major food crops is an important step for any nation that evaluates her agricultural progress. This evaluation should mostly focus on the yields per unit area. So far, it can also earmark the expansion of farms to determine the general yields trend. The main objective of this paper is to assess the production trend of the major food crops and their efficacy to food security in Tanzania. This is particular important because for the past three decades, the country has failed to control food security (especially food availability and accessibility).ResultsHere, crop data from 1980 to 2015 were gathered from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery (MALF), and in the respective regions. In some incidences, the regional data were averaged to elicit their preciseness. To determine the objectivity of this study, agricultural policy, programs, and plans from MALF were reviewed for similar purpose. Mostly, the Mann-Kendal Test and Microsoft Excel were used for data analyses. The results show that the production of the total yields had a positive trend (i.e., growing at R2 = 0.4 and 0.8), while that of the yields (ton/ha) had a negative trend (i.e., declining at R2 = 0.02 and 0.3). It was further realized that the total yields mostly boomed due to farm expansion.ConclusionsDespite the efforts from various agricultural stakeholders, the country has not yet achieved a sustainable crop yield and food security. Explicitly, this situation has been affecting peoples’ livelihoods, and other sectors either directly or indirectly. Therefore, there is a need to improve the production strategies and approaches (i.e., more especially technology and marketing) to limit this problem.