Addressing food self-sufficiency in Tanzania: a balancing act of policy coordination

This paper examines the performance of food production and productivity in Tanzania since 2000, in relation to post-SAP policies. This discussion assumes that individual households in Tanzania strive to achieve food security through own production as well as purchases from the market. Meanwhile, the government strives to meet national food self-sufficiency of main staples (maize,rice and cassava) from local production, implying that individual farmers must produce a surplus, which is then marketed efficiently so that everybody can access sufficient and good-quality food at all times at affordable prices. Any change in the policy environment changes the opportunity set and hence the choices individuals make, which in turn shapes the aggregate performance of economies over time (North, 1993). It is in this context that the analysis in this paper looks at the performance of food production and marketing, at the micro and macro levels, during the post-SAP period in Tanzania, as influenced by preceding and prevailing policies and institutions, in particular focusing on the magnitude and direction of change. The discussion is guided by several questions: is there any change happening in food production? What is driving that change? Can the change be sustained? What is the role of supporting institutions, markets and governance in directing this change?