Investing in rural people in the United Republic of Tanzania

IFAD’s Executive Board approved its first loan to the United Republic of Tanzania in 1978 – the second loan ever approved by the Board. Since then, IFAD has approved and financed 16 projects with investments of US$402.5 million and 4.2 million households have benefited from these activities. Tanzania has the fifth-largest IFAD portfolio (in terms of volume of lending) in the East and Southern Africa region.

IFAD’s strategy in Tanzania is embodied in the results-based country strategic opportunities programme (RB-COSOP) for 2022-2027. This COSOP aims to benefit 1.3 million poor rural households, representing 6.5 million people engaged in family farming (crop, livestock, aquaculture and fisheries), but who face several challenges, including lack of access to quality inputs, technologies, financial services and knowledge, poor infrastructure, low human capital and exposure to climatic shocks.

The COSOP’s overall goal is to transform the agrifood systems so that they achieve higher productivity, better nutrition, more income and resilience for the rural poor in Tanzania. It is aligned with the Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP-III) strategic priority area of realizing an inclusive and competitive economy for human development and specifically with FYDP-III’s objective of increasing the value and productivity of agricultural production for income, employment creation and diversification of products.