The Bank of Tanzania put fertilizers as one of Tanzania’s top imports, costing the country to the tune of USD 1.6 billion between 2020 and 2024. This represents significant forex resources, which could be directed to alternative uses if the demands are met locally, especially since the country has been battling with the challenge of dollar shortages.
Agriculture employs 65 percent of the Tanzanians and is about 26 percent of the Tanzanian economy. Due to the shifting global trends, dependency on imported fertilizer presents a hurdle to the economy and Tanzanian farmers. For example, Tanzania spent about half a billion dollars on the importation of fertilizers in 2022, mostly attributed to global changes, specifically the Russia-Ukraine war. This is the highest amount ever spent in recent years.
Tanzania has strategically decided to increase the use of fertilizers in its arable land, meaning that if fertilizers are mostly available locally, the usage will increase even faster. For instance, Tanzania has managed to increase fertilizer use in the country from 363,599 tonnes in the fiscal year 2021/22 to 848,884 tonnes in the fiscal year 23/24. However, fertilizer usage per hectare remains on the lower end at about 19 kilograms per hectare, below the Abuja Declaration recommendation of about 50 kilograms per hectare.
Tanzania is currently employing various strategies in a bid to boost local production, reduce imports, and increase fertilizer usage per hectare. At the moment, the main fertilizers used in Tanzania, by ranking, include: Urea, CAN, NPK, Ammonium Sulphate, and DAP. Urea is the top imported and used fertilizer in the country, followed by DAP and NPK.
Local production capacity stood at 158,628 tonnes in the fiscal year 2023/24, mostly attributed to two manufacturers producing semi inorganic fertilizers: Minjingu Mines and Fertilizers, which have an installed capacity of 100,000 tonnes but produced about 43,027 tonnes, and Intracom Fertilizers with an installed capacity of 200,000 tonnes but has produced 97,189 tonnes.
Other small producers who produce inorganic fertilizers include Yara Tanzania, and ETG Inputs Limited produces various NPK formulations through their blending plant. The two plants produced 14,057 tonnes and 1307 tonnes, respectively, in the fiscal year 2024. There are also organic producers, including Guavay, Mabwepande Compost, Moshi Compost, and Farm Times.
The Strategy
Part of the Tanzania strategy in curbing import dependency includes setting up a new factory using its coal and natural gas. Speaking during the launch of the Intracom factory on June 28, 2025, Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, underscored that Tanzania is looking to curb dependency in the next five years.
“Right now, there is a new investment that will commence in the Tabora region, and already 2,700 hectares are being prepared for compensation to build a new large fertilizer factory that will use coal,” Bashe said.
“After 2030, this country will no longer import Urea; we will be producing our own Urea, while matters related to gas are also progressing—Urea produced using coal in our country,” he continued.
And added: “After five years, no matter what happens in the world, this country will be self-sufficient in fertilizer without importing even a single kilo from outside.”
In May 2025, Tanzania has also signed an agreement with Indonesian firm PT ESSA Industries for the firm to establish a 1.4-billion-dollar plant in Mtwara to utilize Tanzanian natural gas for the production of fertilizers. This is expected to be a game-changer.
The country has set apart resources to purchase about 200,000 tonnes from existing producers, to enable some of them, such as Intracom expand to meet it’s 1,000,000 tonnes per year potential.
