DAR ES SALAAM: TO my dear readers of this column, allow me to begin by wishing you a belated Merry Christmas, a season in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our mighty Saviour who came to redeem the world from sin. This season of goodwill continues into the early weeks of January.
And since, by the time you read this, we will be just a day away from ushering in the year 2026, let me also wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. May God shine His face upon you and grant you every tool you need to turn your noble intentions into reality. Every day in a year is like a page in a book.
As we prepare to turn the page to a fresh chapter of 365 largely blank pages, it is my hope that the lessons we learned in agriculture over the past year will guide how we write the pages ahead.
While there is much we could discuss at the dawn of this new year, limitations of time and space compel us to focus on one pressing issue: The urgent need to increase agricultural productivity.
For decades, growth in agricultural production has largely depended on the expansion of cultivated land. In other words, our current level of food security has been achieved mainly because sufficient arable land was available. This approach, however, is at best risky and at worst unsustainable.
In a country with one of the fastest-growing populations, the question of land availability cannot be ignored. Anyone with firsthand experience of rural life will agree that a significant portion of land once used for food production has steadily been converted into human settlements.
Households that once enjoyed abundant harvests, thanks to fertile soils and favourable weather raised large families, arguably in obedience to the biblical call to “fill the earth.” This, in itself, is a blessing for which we can be grateful. Nevertheless, with the growth of these families came a critical challenge: Where would everyone live? The answer, in many cases, was to carve out homesteads from productive farmland.
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As a result, land available for crop production has increasingly come under pressure from within. While this observation may not be backed by formal research in this article, the trend is evident and likely to persist for years to come. South Africa provides an instructive contrast.
It remains one of Africa’s leading agricultural producers, largely due to efficient use of inputs, labour, technology and land.
This performance inevitably sparks debate around the use of genetically engineered seeds and whether Tanzania should follow a similar path. However, this debate raises an important question: If we have not yet fully utilised conventionally improved seeds and good agronomic practices, how can we be certain that genetically modified seeds alone will offer a definitive solution to our productivity challenges?
Furthermore, many European countries continue to restrict the cultivation of GMO crops despite hosting some of the world’s largest agricultural biotechnology companies.
Yet year after year, these countries rank highly on global food security indices. It takes only a modest measure of Solomon wisdom to recognise that there is an elephant in the room, one that we are often reluctant to confront.
This observation is not meant to close the GMO debate, but rather to broaden it and encourage critical thinking beyond neatly packaged narratives promoted by certain corporate interests.
Returning to our central theme, increasing productivity must become a shared priority for all actors along Tanzania’s agricultural value chain. Higher productivity leads to greater efficiency, better incomes for farmers and stronger national food security.
If Tanzania is to compete globally while addressing poverty at home, it must learn to produce more using fewer resources. As we step into 2026, this must be the moment to unlock the country’s vast but underutilised agricultural potential. In closing, let me once again wish you a prosperous New Year.
May we all do our part in making the world a better place to live and Tanzania a bastion of hope for those concerned about what the future may hold.