Tanzania Smallholder Farmers Struggle to Benefit From Digital Agriculture

Smallholder farmers in Tanzania are encountering significant hurdles in benefiting from digital agriculture initiatives designed to assist them with market information and agricultural advice. In the Dodoma region, farmers have reported receiving messages regarding platforms like M-Kilimo and e-Kilimo but have never registered due to a lack of education and awareness concerning their benefits. While the Ministry of Agriculture's M-Kilimo service provides market data, farming tips, and allows producers to advertise goods and consult extension workers, and e-Kilimo brings government services onto a website and smartphone app, many rural growers continue to rely on traditional methods.

Challenges With Digital Tools and Literacy

Farmers who have attempted to use the platforms point to practical obstacles. Jeremiah Luwe, a maize and pigeon pea farmer in Kongwa district, noted that responses regarding markets and inputs can take up to two weeks, arriving too late to be useful. Consequently, Luwe relies on public meetings, auctions, and media reports. Other farmers, such as Adam Rashidi and Shaban Omary, use basic mobile phones and obtain price details through auctions or television, noting they would register or use the technology if they were properly trained. Shaban Ndatwa, a local cooperative chairman, added that seminars on the Tanzania Mercantile Exchange have left participants without adequate understanding of how to use the system.

A 2024 study based on ministry data recorded millions of registered users and tens of thousands of advisory consultations, but also documented hundreds of thousands of incomplete registrations alongside challenges with digital literacy and basic phone USSD services. Agriculture specialists note that while digital tools could help smallholders who lack the resources and market knowledge of larger operators, barriers such as cost, connectivity, and training remain unaddressed. Meanwhile, the government is investing in a multi-million-dollar data transformation programme running through 2027 to improve digital literacy and expand access, though the ministry did not respond to requests for comment regarding these concerns.

Poor training and delayed responses leave farmers struggling to access useful market information.

Why it matters

Poor training and delayed responses leave farmers struggling to access useful market information. These gaps affect smallholders' ability to secure fair prices and connect with buyers, highlighting the broader need for agricultural programmes to focus on measurable impact and direct village-level training rather than registration figures alone.