Tanzania Starts Construction of 28 Grain Storage Warehouses in Ruvuma

On 24th September 2024, Tanzania’s President Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan laid the foundation stone for the construction of 28 grain storage warehouses at the Luhimba warehouse site in the Ruvuma region.

The warehouses are been built in four district councils: Songea Municipality (1 warehouse), Songea DC (11 warehouses), Madaba (9 warehouses), and Namtumbo (7 warehouses).

The total cost of the construction is TZS 14.7 billion, with each warehouse costing TZS 527 million.

Speaking at the launch event, Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture Hon. Hussein Bashe said: “These 28 warehouses are the first phase of implementing your directive, H.E. President, to build 70 rural warehouses, each with a capacity of 1,000 tons, totaling 28,000 tons for all 28 warehouses. The Ministry of Agriculture, through the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA), has already begun utilizing 5 of the 28 warehouses to serve farmers, with five more warehouses expected to be completed in the coming weeks.”

Minister Bashe added that NFRA will also build modern large-scale warehouses, each with a capacity of 5,000 tons. These warehouses will be constructed in five crop-producing regions: Katavi, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Songwe, and Tabora.

Tanzania’s Food Production and Storage

During the 2022/2023 agricultural season, Tanzania’s food crop production reached 20 million tons, up from 17 million tons in the 2021/2022 season, reflecting a 19% increase.

Cereal production totaled 11.4 million tons, rising from 9.2 million tons, representing a 23.9% increase, while non-cereal crop production was 8.9 million tons, compared to 7.9 million tons, marking a 13.1% increase.

Additionally, maize production for the 2022/2023 season was 8 million tons, increasing from 6.4 million tons, indicating a 24.83% rise.

Rice production reached 2.3 million tons, up from 1.7 million tons, reflecting a 36.52% increase.

In 2023/24, the government of Tanzania allocated TZS 11.6 billion to complete 38 warehouses with a capacity of 33,000 tons in Ruvuma and finalize additional warehouses and sheds with a total capacity of 165,000 tons in the NFRA zones.

NFRA operates 34 storage facilities in different zones with a total storage capacity of 340,000 tons, serving all regions of mainland Tanzania.

The Sumbawanga zone has the largest storage capacity of 88,000 tons, serving the Rukwa and Katavi regions.

The Arusha zone has a storage capacity of 79,000 tons serving the Arusha, Kilimanjaro, and Manyara regions, while the Dodoma zone has a capacity of 39,000 tons, catering to the Dodoma and Singida regions.

The Kipawa zone can store 52,000 tons, serving Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Tanga, Morogoro, Mtwara, and Lindi.

In the Makambako zone, the storage capacity is 22,000 tons, supporting Iringa and Njombe, while the Shinyanga zone has a capacity of 14,500 tons, covering Shinyanga, Tabora, Mwanza, Mara, Kagera, Geita, Simiyu, and Kigoma.

The Songea zone can store 29,000 tons for Ruvuma, while the Songwe zone has a storage capacity of 17,000 tons for Mbeya and Songwe.