Commercialization of the Tanzania's Food systems to catalyze growth and resilience

Mpango Maalum

Cereals

Mnyororo wa thamani na maelezo ya kina kuhusu mazao ya cereals — Tier 3

Maelezo ya Jumla

Kuhusu Cereals

Nafaka ni mazao muhimu ya chakula nchini Tanzania yakichukua asilimia kubwa ya eneo la kilimo. COPRA inaangalia ubora, usindikaji na uuzaji wa nafaka ili kuhakikisha usalama wa chakula na kuongeza mapato ya wakulima.

Mnyororo wa Thamani

Mnyororo wa thamani wa nafaka unahusisha wakulima wadogo, wakusanyaji, wachakataji (kusaga, kusafisha), wafanyabiashara na wasafirishaji. COPRA inasaidia ubora wa bidhaa na upatikanaji wa masoko mikuu.

Cereals

Kipaumbele Tier 3

Idadi ya Mazao 3

Jumla ya Mikoa 5+

Mazao

Maelezo ya Kina ya Mazao — Tier 3

Bonyeza zao kuona taarifa za washiriki katika msururu wa thamani

1. Input & Service Supply

Before cultivation begins, farmers rely on a network of input providers:

Seed suppliers: Provide commercial maize varieties (hybrids, high-yielding varieties).
Fertilizer and agrochemical companies: Supply nutrients (DAP, urea), herbicides, and pesticides.
Equipment and service providers: Offer tractors, ploughs, harvesters, and irrigation systems.
Extension services: Government or NGO-led advisory on good agricultural practices.

2. Production (Cultivation)

This is the foundational stage where value is initially created:

Land preparation: Ploughing, levelling, and soil management.
Planting & cultivation: Sowing seeds, nutrient management, weed/pest control, and irrigation.
Harvesting: Manual or mechanized collection of cobs, followed by threshing to extract grain.
Post-harvest handling: Drying (to reduce moisture to ~13–14%), cleaning, and initial storage.

Key challenge: Post-harvest losses of 5–9% are common due to poor drying, storage, and transportation practices.

3. Aggregation & Trading

After harvest, grain moves through various marketing channels involving intermediaries:

Village / Sub-district collectors: Local traders who buy small quantities from farmers and aggregate them.
District collectors / Large traders: Handle bulk volumes, often providing storage and transport to mills or export terminals.
Direct sales: Some large or medium-scale farmers sell directly to industrial mills, bypassing intermediaries.

Channel variety: In many regions, maize flows through multiple channel types — from direct farmer-to-consumer sales to complex multi-step chains involving two or three intermediary levels before reaching processors.

4. Primary Processing (Milling)

Maize grain is processed into various intermediate and final products:

Small-scale / hammer mills: Common in rural areas; provide a service to local households, producing coarse meal.
Industrial roller mills: Large facilities producing refined products: breakfast meal / roller meal (staple food), maize bran (animal feed), maize grits (breweries and snacks).

Extraction rates: Industrial mills typically achieve ~62% breakfast meal, 22% roller meal, and 16% bran, though these can be adjusted based on market demand.

5. Secondary Processing & Manufacturing

Maize serves as a critical input for several downstream industries:

Food & beverages: Corn flour for baking, grits for beer brewing, starch, sweeteners, popcorn, and breakfast cereals.
Animal feed: Both whole grain and by-products (bran, DDGS from ethanol production) feed poultry, livestock, and aquaculture.
Biofuels: Corn is a primary feedstock for ethanol production, linking agriculture to the energy sector.
Industrial uses: Corn-derived products appear in plastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.

6. Distribution & Retail

Processed products reach consumers through:

Wholesalers: Bulk distribution to retailers and institutions.
Retailers: Supermarkets, local shops, and open markets selling meal, flour, or snacks.
Direct institutional sales: Large mills may supply directly to government programs, breweries, or feed companies.

7. Consumption

The final demand side is diverse:

Household consumers: Purchase maize meal/flour as a dietary staple.
Livestock farmers & feed industry: Bulk consumers of grain and by-products.
Food manufacturers: Breweries, snack companies, and cereal producers.
Energy sector: Ethanol blenders and petroleum refiners.

Value Distribution & Margins

The economic value captured at each stage varies significantly:

43%Farmers

25%Processors

20%Retailers

12%Wholesalers & Traders

Long chains with multiple intermediaries often reduce the producer's share, creating pressure for interventions like farmer producer organizations (FPOs), contract farming, or direct purchase licenses.

Value Chain Flow

Input Suppliers Farmers Collectors / Traders Mills Secondary Processors Wholesalers Retailers Consumers

Wadau

Wadau Wakuu katika Mnyororo wa Thamani wa Mahindi

Mashirika na kampuni muhimu katika sekta ya mahindi nchini Tanzania

Large-Scale Millers & Processors

Company	Details
Bakhresa Food Products (Azam)	Largest miller of wheat and maize flour in Tanzania. Operates Kipawa, Mizizima, and Buguruni Flour Mills in Dar es Salaam. Brand: AZAM.
Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Ltd (MEL)	One of Tanzania's largest businesses. Agro-processing units in Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Mwanza, and Tabora. 27 branches plus agent network purchasing from small-scale farmers.
Export Trading Company Ltd (ETC)	Multinational operating in 10 African countries. Deals in maize, rice, cashews, pigeon peas, sesame, groundnuts, soya, beans. Also imports fertilizer.
General Mills of East Africa	Large commercial miller producing maize flour for urban consumers.

Medium-Scale Millers, Feed Processors & Traders

Company	Location	Details
Kibaigwa Flour Supplies Ltd (KFS)	Dodoma	Cooking oil and sunflower/flour processor. Located near Kibaigwa maize market. Packages maize flour since 2005.
Kijenge Animal Products Ltd	Arusha	Maize milling (Kenmillers), animal feeds, and commercial broiler farm. 30+ years experience.
Tofauti Ltd	Iringa	Medium-sized maize miller. Produces high-quality flour for local institutions and Dar es Salaam buyers.
Monaban Trading & Farming Co. Ltd	Arusha	Import/export, milling (wheat, maize), transport for WFP. Leases old NMC facilities.
SIZA Agroprocessing	Mafinga	Processes maize flour, rice, animal feeds, and sunflower oil.
Falcon Feeds / Interchick	Dar es Salaam	Poultry feed processors buying ~5,000 MT of maize annually.

Institutional Buyers

Organization	Role
National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA)	Government strategic grain reserve. Purchases from farmer groups/AMCOS at cost of production, typically offering better prices.
World Food Programme (WFP)	Institutional buyer purchasing from NFRA. Runs Farm to Market Alliance (FMA) linking smallholders to markets.

Input Suppliers (Seed Companies)

Company	Details
DeKalb (Monsanto), Highland Seeds, Pannar, Pioneer (DuPont), Seed Co., Tan Seeds International, ASA	Hybrid maize seed suppliers. Prices range TSh 3,500–4,000/kg.

Financial Institutions

Institution	Role
NMB, CRDB Bank	Leading lenders to agribusiness (large-scale farmers, traders, processors).
FBME, Stanbic, Standard Chartered, EXIM Bank	Express cautious interest in agricultural lending.
Local SACCOs, Mufindi Community Bank	Gradually strengthening; support farmers at district level.

Farmer Organizations & Cooperatives

Organization	Details
MVIWATA	National Network of Farmer's Groups. Voice of farmers nationwide. Manages Kibaigwa Maize Market.
WAMCOS	Songea District. Collective marketing — purchases at harvest, stores, sells during scarcity.
Iringa Farmers Cooperatives Union (IFCU), Chawanako Farmers Association	Farmer cooperatives and associations involved in maize marketing and climate resilience.

Development & NGO Partners

Organization	Role
AGRA, TechnoServe, CRS, RUDI, BRITEN, CSDI, TAGRODE, NADO, INCOMET, Faida MaLi, 2 Seeds Network, Clinton Foundation, MRA Associates	Support maize value chain development, market linkages, climate-smart agriculture, and capacity building for farmers nationwide.

Government & Regulatory Bodies

Body	Role
Ministry of Agriculture (MAFC), NARI / SARI / Uyole Research Institute, TWLB, TFDA, Local Government Authorities	Policy, research, regulation of warehouse receipts, food safety, and extension services.

End-Buyers & Industrial Users

Company	Role
Tanzania Breweries Ltd (TBL) / AB InBev	Sources maize locally via third-party aggregators for brewing. Interested in climate-resilient sourcing.
Kitenge Farms, Hill Foods	Processors and market focal point partners.

Tanzania's maize value chain is highly fragmented: ~3.5 million smallholder farmers, many traders, and ~30,000 small flour mills (over 90% of milling happens at village-based posho/hammer mills). The Southern Highlands (Iringa, Mbeya, Ruvuma, Njombe, Songwe, Rukwa) and Northern zones are the major production areas.