Our Work: Six Mandates, One Mission
The Potato Council of Tanzania delivers an integrated programme of work that spans the entire value chain — from tissue culture laboratories to export terminals. Below is what we do, why it matters, and where we are going.
1. Policy Advocacy: The National Round Potato Development Strategy
Tanzania has never had a comprehensive national policy framework for the potato sector — until now.
The National Round Potato Development Strategy is a ten-year roadmap that will formalise the potato sector’s role in national agricultural development. The PCT is currently shepherding the document through final technical review and coordinating a major multi-stakeholder validation workshop to secure broad consensus and ownership.
What the Strategy Will Deliver
- A national framework for certified seed production and distribution.
- Targeted investments in post-harvest infrastructure (cold storage, grading, market centres, aggregation hubs).
- Incentives for value addition and agro-processing — frozen fries, crisps, starch, flour.
- Trade reforms including the elimination of the lumbesa system and standardised weights and measures.
- Alignment of research, extension, and market services across ministries and agencies.
Once adopted, the Strategy will provide the policy certainty needed to attract large-scale private investment and unlock development-partner financing for the sector.
2. Regional Integration: The Jumuiya Potato Platform
Tanzanian potato farmers no longer compete in a national market alone. They compete — and increasingly thrive — across East Africa.
The Jumuiya Potato Platform is the East African Community’s flagship initiative for harmonising seed potato regulations across all seven member states. Launched in Kampala in June 2022, it is the regulatory infrastructure that turns cross-border trade from informal hustle into formal opportunity.
How the PCT Engages
- We are Tanzania’s official voice at platform meetings and technical working groups.
- We coordinate Tanzanian compliance with regional certification protocols and phytosanitary standards.
- We facilitate export-corridor negotiations, ensuring Tanzanian varieties gain recognition in regional markets.
- We document and champion success stories — the Ihemi Cluster potatoes now reaching Kenyan supermarkets, Comoros markets, and Zanzibar’s tourism sector.
The next frontier is Zambia, identified by the Government of Tanzania in September 2024 as a priority destination for potato exports.
3. Farmer Capacity Building: The Mkulima kwa Mkulima Model
Knowledge changes farms. The PCT scales knowledge through the Mkulima kwa Mkulima (Farmer-to-Farmer) extension model — a peer-learning system that has consistently outperformed traditional top-down extension.
How It Works
- Lead Farmer Selection — successful commercial producers (such as those at Lusitu Agribusiness Group and Isowelo AMCOS) are identified and trained as extension agents.
- Demonstration Plots — these farmers establish on-farm learning sites showcasing certified seed varieties, drip irrigation, proper spacing, integrated pest management, and soil health practices.
- Peer Training — neighbouring smallholders attend field days, receive hands-on coaching, and adopt proven techniques.
- Business Literacy — training extends beyond agronomy into record-keeping, cost-benefit analysis, collective marketing, and financial planning.
The Results
In priority clusters, average yields have moved from 3.2 – 6.0 MT/acre to 8 – 15 MT/acre — a two-to-three-fold productivity gain. Cooperatives that secured credit alongside training have, in case-study evidence, jumped from below 4 tonnes per acre to 8 tonnes per acre, with one Southern Highlands cooperative leveraging a €368,883 loan to scale operations.
“Treating farming as a business — and doing the right things at the right time, the right way, and the right place.”
4. Value Chain Coordination: From Block Farms to Boardrooms
Fragmentation is the silent tax on Tanzania’s potato economy. Smallholders sell individually to traders who pay below market. Processors import what local farmers could supply. Banks see “smallholder” and assume “uncreditworthy.”
The PCT exists to break that cycle.
Our Approach
- Block Farming — we organise smallholders into commercial blocks that aggregate supply, standardise quality, and negotiate collectively.
- Multi-Stakeholder Innovation Platforms (MSIPs) — formal forums where farmers, traders, processors, financiers, and researchers meet, plan, and act together.
- Direct Market Linkages — connecting organised farmer groups directly with processors, exporters, supermarkets, and institutional buyers, bypassing exploitative intermediaries.
- Contract Farming Frameworks — building the legal and commercial scaffolding that allows processors to commit to off-take and farmers to commit to quality.
5. Quality Standards & Seed Systems
Premium markets require premium standards. The PCT champions the rules, certifications, and infrastructure that turn Tanzanian potatoes into a premium regional brand.
Priority Workstreams
- Certified Seed Multiplication Zones — establishing dedicated regions in the Southern Highlands for seed potato production, in collaboration with TARI, TOSCI, and private seed companies. Launch expected Q3 2026.
- Variety Registration & Catalog — maintaining the official register of approved varieties (currently 16 registered varieties, including Markies, Asante, Manitou, Sherekea, Tengeru, Arizona).
- Grading & Packaging Standards — eliminating the lumbesa system and introducing standardised 50kg sacks with verified weights.
- Post-Harvest Infrastructure — advocating for cold storage, modern grading and packing centres, and aggregation hubs that cut the current 20–30% post-harvest loss rate.
6. Climate Resilience & Sustainability
The 2050 outlook is sobering. Modelling suggests that without adaptive measures, potato yields in the Southern Highlands could decline by as much as 75% in the October–November–December season under high-emissions scenarios. Temperatures are projected to rise more than 2.5°C; rainfall to fall 3.4% in major growing zones.
We are not waiting.
Our Climate Programme
- Drought-tolerant and heat-resistant varieties — accelerating release through TARI and CGIAR partnerships.
- Drip irrigation expansion — moving the sector off its 90% dependence on rain-fed production.
- Soil conservation — addressing highland erosion in Iringa and Njombe through conservation agriculture.
- Crop diversification and insurance — integrating potatoes into resilient farming systems with appropriate risk-transfer products.
- Geospatial planning — supporting the Master Plan 2050’s use of GIS to expand production without encroaching on forests or biodiversity hotspots.
How These Six Mandates Connect
None of these workstreams stands alone. A farmer trained under Mkulima kwa Mkulima needs certified seed (mandate 5) to realise yield gains, a market linkage (mandate 4) to capture value, a regional standard (mandate 2) to access cross-border premiums, climate-smart practice (mandate 6) to survive the next dry spell, and a strong national policy (mandate 1) to make all of it durable.
The PCT delivers them as one system.