About the Potato Council of Tanzania
We are the formal industry body of Tanzania’s potato sector — a registered, member-led council representing the producers, processors, traders, financiers, regulators, and researchers who together turn one of Africa’s fastest-growing potato economies into a global force.
Our Origin
The Potato Council of Tanzania did not emerge from a top-down decree. It emerged from the demand of stakeholders themselves.
By the early 2020s, Tanzania’s potato sector had become too important — and too disorganised — to operate without a unifying voice. Cross-border seed regulations were tightening. Urban demand was exploding. Processors were importing what farmers in the Southern Highlands could readily supply. Smallholders were losing income to oversized “lumbesa” bags and fragmented markets.
The formation process officially commenced in June 2022, catalysed by the EAC Seed Potato Trade Strategy and facilitated by Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Growth Corridors of Tanzania Centre (AGCOT Centre, formerly SAGCOT Centre Limited).
After two years of consultation, validation, and structuring, the Potato Council of Tanzania was officially registered under the BRELA Act on 27 June 2024, becoming a legally constituted entity with the standing to negotiate with government, set industry standards, advocate for enabling policy, and mobilise resources on behalf of its members.
Mission
To advance the development of Tanzania’s potato industry by addressing systemic challenges and fostering a structured, coordinated ecosystem in which every actor — from smallholder to multinational processor — can thrive.
Vision
A Tanzanian potato sector that is resilient, profitable, sustainable, and globally competitive — feeding the nation, supplying the region, and lifting hundreds of thousands of rural households into commercial agriculture.
Core Values
| Value | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Farmer at the centre | Every decision begins with the question: does this make life better for the smallholder? |
| Coordination over competition | The value chain wins together or loses together. |
| Evidence-based action | Policy advocacy grounded in research, data, and field experience. |
| Inclusive growth | Special attention to women, youth, and marginalised producers. |
| Regional ambition | Tanzania’s potato future is East African and continental, not just national. |
Founding Subscribers
The Council’s institutional architecture rests on three founding subscribers, each bringing a distinct strength:
AGCOT Centre Limited
The Agricultural Growth Corridors of Tanzania Centre — a pan-Tanzanian platform driving agribusiness transformation through farmer organisation, value chain integration, and strategic public–private coordination. Since the SAGCOT-to-AGCOT expansion of April 2025, the Centre coordinates four nationwide corridors — Southern, Northern, Central, and Mtwara — each with its own clusters, ecological identity, and value-chain priorities. AGCOT contributes the field operations backbone for the PCT, including the Ihemi Cluster model that has piloted many of the practices the Council now scales across all corridors.
Agriculture Council of Tanzania (ACT)
The apex policy-advocacy body for Tanzania’s agricultural private sector across crops, livestock, and agro-processing. ACT contributes the national policy access and lobbying networks the PCT needs to influence regulation.
Avocado Society of Tanzania (ASTA)
A sister commodity council for one of Tanzania’s most successful horticultural export sectors. ASTA contributes the institutional template — the lessons learned from structuring a high-value crop under a single coordinating body.
This tri-institutional foundation gives the PCT a faster trajectory from start-up to impact than any single institution could deliver alone.
Leadership
Chairman
Beno Mgaya chairs the Potato Council of Tanzania, bringing strategic stewardship to the industry’s national agenda.
[Bios of the Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Board Members to be added as the governance structure is finalised.]
Secretariat
The day-to-day operations of the Council are run from the Secretariat, which coordinates policy work, member services, communications, and stakeholder engagement.
What We Stand For
1. Policy Advocacy
Championing enabling frameworks that incentivise investment, protect farmer interests, and unlock market access — beginning with the National Round Potato Development Strategy.
2. Value Chain Coordination
Bridging input suppliers, seed multipliers, farmers, traders, processors, exporters, and financiers into functional, mutually beneficial networks.
3. Capacity Building
Deploying proven extension models — chiefly Mkulima kwa Mkulima — to scale knowledge of Good Agricultural Practices, certified seed use, climate-smart techniques, and agribusiness management.
4. Quality Assurance
Establishing industry standards for seed certification, grading, packaging, and traceability — the prerequisites of premium and export market access.
5. Regional Integration
Positioning Tanzania as a competitive player in East Africa’s cross-border potato trade through active participation in the Jumuiya Potato Platform.
6. Knowledge Generation
Curating and disseminating the variety catalog, GAP manuals, market intelligence, and post-harvest guidelines that the sector needs to professionalise.
Where We Operate
The PCT’s footprint follows the country’s potato geography:
- Southern Highlands (Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Songwe) — 70–80% of national production. The Ihemi Cluster is our flagship demonstration zone.
- Northern Highlands (Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara) — 20–30% of production, with strategic access to Kenyan markets.
- Emerging Zones (Lake Zone, Western Highlands, Eastern Coast) — biofortified varieties, lowland trials, and proximity-to-market opportunities.
Get Involved
The Potato Council of Tanzania is a member-led organisation. If you are part of the potato value chain — anywhere from a tissue culture lab in Arusha to a wholesale market in Kariakoo — there is a seat for you.