The how and why of agricultural partnerships for Yara Tanzania

For smallholders in Tanzania, crop productivity is quite low. One major reason is poor adoption of quality inputs (seeds, fertilizer). 82% of the smallholders do not use fertilizer due to lack of knowledge on it benefits, lack of financial capacity to buy fertilizer or otherwise non-availability. Here at Yara Tanzania we want to change that, and support smallholders to transition to more profitable and sustainable farming. In this, my first blog, I want to explain something of how we do that, and what it means for my role as Partnership Manager.

The main crops grown by smallholders are Maize, Coffee, Tea, Tobacco, Rice, pulses and vegetables. Our approach for the smallholder development is in 2 phases;

Phase1; improve productivity, food security and improved nutrition through:

• Training on production knowhow: we explain the importance of balanced crop nutrition for crop growth and about the right type of fertilizer for good crop results. Yara has developed easy to understand programmes to educate farmers on how to correctly apply fertilizer. This step is usually done by training the partners’ extension staff and lead farmers who will then train the rest of their neighbouring farmers.
• Product availability; ensuring fertilizer is readily accessible by the farmers. Yara has expanded its local distribution network, made 5kg bags available, and also supplies product directly through farmers.

Phase 2; Farming for business – transformation through value chain setup.

• Champion the development of Inclusive Industrial partnerships for sustainable development as Yara believes in supporting smallholders to get the very best results from their investment in crop nutrition. This second step is combined with the establishment of demonstration plots. To make a demonstration plot, a section of a Lead farmer’s field is demarcated and managed by a Yara agronomist for other farmers to observe the application, learn practically and appreciate the benefits of Yara Crop Nutrition regime by comparing it to another section managed under traditional farmer practice. We also run crop clinics: Yara agronomists organize a learning desk during key market days where farmers consult and get first-hand knowledge on improving their crop production. In addition, we encourage partners to engage in infrastructure development that give local grower access to crop markets and help them to create additional income from farming.

To achieve the above, we and the 15 Yara regional agronomists work with many partners (NGOs and commercial firms) spread across the key agricultural zones working with farmers daily to increase their productivity and incomes.

Farmers learning at a cotton demo plot

Some of our key partnerships are;

1) Coffee

The coffee partnership for Tanzania (CPT) is managed by DEG [expand acronym ] and implemented by private sector partners aiming at increasing the net income of 85,000 male and female coffee farmers by doubling their yields.

Yara is closely working with the sub grantees of this project, being the private coffee traders with a common target of doubling yields of their smallholder farmer groups. Herebelow some of the partners we work with;

• Ecom Agroindustrial corp; so far trained more than 5,000 farmers on Good Agricultural practices in Mbinga, Kigoma and Moshi.
• Olam; collaborating in Songea and Kagera regions providing agronomy support to more than 3000 farmers.
• Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Africa (HRNS) to reach 25,000 farmers in the Northern and Southern highlands of Tanzania.
• Tembo coffee, working with more than 2,000 farmers in Mbeya to double productivity and improve coffee quality.

Photo 1: Mr Rashid proudly showing a heavy bearing coffee tree on his farm as a result of Yara Crop Nutrition regime.

2) Rice

• CARI- Competitive African Rice Initiative by Kilimo Trust

The project model involves partners forming a consortium (millers, service providers, inputs suppliers, and extension providers). Yara is a member of 2 consortiums each serving 5,000 farmers in Dodoma and Mbeya. We are working to double farmer productivity while guaranteeing market access for all their produce, knowledge transfer is organized through training, lessons at the demonstration plots and farmer field days.

• Kilombero Plantations Limited (KPL),

This is a private company running a large scale commercial rice plantation, it has been working in collaboration with NAFAKA since 2012 training over 6,000 smallholder farmers in the areas surrounding the plantation prior to the new grant. We provide knowledge on crop nutrition and suitable products for farmers to gain significant yield increase. So far through the project we have managed to increase the paddy productivity from 1t/Ha to more than 5T/Ha translating to significant income increase for the smallholder as KPL purchases their paddy at contracted price.

3) Maize

• BRAC

Engaging in Livelihood Enhancement through Agricultural Development (LEAD) project, we are contributing to the food security platform, where smallholders learn on how to raise their production levels to meet their food requirements. The project also addresses issues of accessibility of quality inputs (seed & fertilizer) to enable farmer adoption.

Photo 2: Yara has put a smile on this woman farmer's face in Dodoma, sure of meeting her family's food requirements. She is a beneficiary of the BRAC- LEAD programme.

Progress and lessons

Working in partnership is hard work and we are always busy to strengthen the network, because we are convinced it is the only way to work towards the aim to increase smallholder yields. Farmers don’t need just one thing, they need many. They need a secure market for their off-take. They need inputs but also training on how to use them. They need organisational support for their farmers groups in order to engage effectively in the market. Yara has found that working with NGOs, business and government partners, we can combine our quality crop nutrition inputs with other support services that farmers need, and move step by step to our shared goal of improving the productivity and sustainability of the agricultural sector in Tanzania.

Yara’s knowledge, products and solutions grow farmers and industrial customers’ businesses profitably and responsibly, while nurturing and protecting the earth’s resources, food, and environment.

More Information

Find out more about Yara's approach to smallholders here

This blog is a part of our March 2015 series on inclusive business in the agriculture sector. To view all the articles in this series click here.