Access to Quality Seed Drives Tanzania's Soybean Market

Tanzania, East Africa's second biggest economy, is reporting a growing consumer base for soybeans and its by-products with various reports indicating a surge in demand despite supply constraints due to diverse challenges including lack of access to quality seed by farmers.

Demand for soybean for human consumption and livestock feed in Tanzania is estimated to be 140,000 metric tons outstripping current production of less than 50,000 metric tons hence turning the country into a net importer of the legume from countries such as China, Zambia and Malawi.

Tanzania's ministry of agriculture says soybean production has made small growth steps since 2021/2022 marketing year when the country's output rose from 5,152 tons to 13,584 tons in 2022/2023 and subsequently 48,531 tons in the 2023/2024 period.

According to a recent report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Tanzania's local feed manufacturers report that most soybean crushers in the country "are operating below capacity or have shut down due to the inability to source affordable soybeans for crushing."

The growing demand is largely driven by an increasing population, estimated at 67 million people, surge in livestock and aquaculture numbers and expanding exports opportunities, especially in China, with the government now shifting attention to the production, supply of and access to quality soybean seeds in addressing Tanzania's low levels of soybean crop output.

Government-Supplied Seed

Tanzania's Ministry of Agriculture estimates current government-supplied soybean seed at 961.09 tons, including 675.89 tons of imports and 289 tons locally produced.

More than 70% of the soybean farmers in Tanzania- a country with an estimated total market size of 50,000 metric tons, far below the national demand of 300,000 metric tons- depend on recycled soya bean seed, which is generally of local varieties, for their soya bean production according to recent surveys.

“Seeds are mostly obtained by saving harvested grains and new soya seeds are hard to get, as few agro-dealers stock them,” a report by the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), a public-private partnership initiative with objective of transforming Tanzania's agricultural sector.

The constrained supply of soybean seeds in Tanzania, as is the case in other East Africa countries such as Kenya and Uganda, is partly a result of low investment in research, production and distribution of quality seed due to a lack of a secure output market for soybean which "also constrains farmers’ access to inputs and services, " according to a market report by Gatsby Africa, a private foundation set up by Lord David Sainsbury, with a focus on East Africa's development.

"Farmers are discouraged from consistently investing in raising productivity given market uncertainty, driving unpredictable demand for inputs and services," the NGO says. Due to this unpredictable demand, “input suppliers are discouraged from producing and distributing quality inputs, and farmer service companies from expanding their coverage."

Gatsby Africa says the limited access to quality seed and inoculants due to the unpredictability in demand, means "companies produce limited amounts of certified seed and quality inoculants given the sensitivity and short shelf-life of soya bean seed and inoculants, hindering farmer access and productivity."

A previous study early this year by SAGCOT, one of the major drivers of Tanzania's soybean expansion program, says "farmers’ knowledge about seeds and inoculants is also limited, with only 29% of them knowing which soya variety they grow.”

At least 44% of the soybean seeds used in Tanzania are recycled on-farm while 26% of the seed is obtained from neighbors.

"As the capacity of the national seed multiplication program for the Uyole varieties is limited, and the availability of commercial varieties restricted to a few centers, farmers mostly have to recycle harvested grain and use it as seed, a practice that risks the build-up of seed-borne diseases in the planting material, which can negatively affect yields," SAGCOT says.

"The distribution of new, improved seeds like Uyole 04 and SeedCo varieties appears to be limited to specific areas in Iringa, Morogoro and Njombe and Ruvuma regions," SAGCOT adds.

Improving Seed Development

Nevertheless, soybean seed development in Tanzania has largely been driven through public private partnership projects as well as private companies including Meru Agro Ltd, IFFA Seed, Namburi Agricultal Company Ltd, SeedCo, NAMS, Sange Agriseed Company, and Rieta Agro Ltd, Pannar, Pioneer-Dupont and Zamseed among others.

Several seed market organizations and companies have for a while now been involved in soybean seed breeding programs in Tanzania, including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a not-for-profit institution supporting agricultural innovations in Africa.

IITA says Tanzania's soybean has been increasing, though slow, “driven by increased market demand from the feed industry and export opportunities, and made possible by the introduction of new varieties, notably originating from the breeding programs.”

The organization has been working with Tanzania’s national agricultural research institutes and private companies such as SeedCo, Pannar, Pioneer-Dupont and Zamseed to develop and promote soybean seed varieties currently grown in Tanzania.

Despite a large share of soybean seed available in Tanzania originating from the ongoing breeding programs, such as those led by IITA “yet farmers have little knowledge about the exact variety (or varieties) they cultivate and commonly refer to their soya seed as ‘local variety’".

Soy seed is hardly available in agro-dealer shops in Tanzania, IITA observes, hence most farmers use harvest grains as seed or obtain their seed from fellow farmers.

Soybean Seed Varieties Available

IITA says the determinate Uyole 02 (or Soya 02) variety appears to be most common and widely distributed in Tanzania of the varieties originating from the government-promoted national breeding and seed multiplication programs.

Other varieties available include Uyole 04 (or Soya 04), and those produced by SeedCo such as Safari, Semeke, Spike and Squire, but which, despite being registered in Tanzania, and have better disease tolerance “are difficult to obtain and not (yet) feature on the company’s Tanzanian website.”

Elsewhere, Chinese seed company LongPing High-Tech, which has huge soybean operations in Brazil, has introduced soybean variety MG3801, originating from Brazil, and which the company says is suitable in Tanzania's Dodoma region. The company was previously quoted saying it will invest over US$ 213 million in the production of soybean in the southern part of Tanzania mainly to feed the Chinese market.

For Tanzania to achieve its national soybean production goals, Gatsby Africa says it is crucial that the country, and the rest of East Africa, "address the issue of inadequate access to quality Soybean seeds to enable farmers to attain optimal productivity through reliable and genetically superior seeds that exhibit desirable traits such as disease resistance, high yield potential, and adaptability to local conditions.”

New Breeding Network

One of the latest initiatives to address the soy seed shortage at the East Africa level is the regional soybean breeding network project that brings together several countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, all neighbors of Tanzania.

The soybean breeding network, an initiative financed by the Gates Foundation and coordinated by IITA in partnership with universities, national research programs in participating countries, is likely to transform and boost East Africa's soy seed market especially with the surge in the demand for soybean varieties with traits such as high yields, tolerance to rust, has improved oil and protein content, resilience to droughts and fast maturity.

The East Africa soybean breeding network, IITA explains, now has defined role differentiation among involved countries based on capacity based on the harmonized scale provided by France-based Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR).

For example, Kenya is leading in crossbreeding and shares germplasm with the rest of the network members while other countries including Tanzania, focuses on selection, evaluation, or testing.

"Across the network, members share germplasm, data, and knowledge, reducing duplication and maximizing efficiency and as the whole network uses the same, harmonized market segments and target product profiles, varieties can be released and commercialized across multiple countries, facilitating regional seed trade," IITA says.

This drive to expand East Africa's regional seed trade coincides with a period when Tanzania's seed industry is reporting small but steady milestones such as the increase in production of quality seeds.

A recent government report says output of quality seeds in Tanzania reached 56,114 tons, higher than the 42,096.7 tons realized in 2022/2023. The total seed production by the country's private sector is estimated at 5,746 tons for the 2023/2024 marketing year according to the country's ministry of agriculture.

"The increase in production of quality seeds in the country has been attributed by Government initiatives in improving infrastructures in Agricultural Seeds Agency (ASA) and Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) seed farms and creating a conducive investment environment for the private sector to be involved in seed production," the ministry said.

In the long-term, Tanzania looks set to harness the untapped potential of its soybean industry in growing its economy and the nutritional status of its 67 million people by shifting focus to the development of smart soybean seed varieties that can withstand the vagaries of climate change and yield more to meet the increasing requirements, particularly of the country's expanding livestock and aquaculture sectors.

Shem Oirere is a freelance writer based in Nairobi, Kenya. He can be reached at shem@shemoirere.com.