Tanzania rolls out ten year plan to expand farm mechanization

TANZANIA – Tanzania has launched a national agricultural mechanization strategy covering the period from 2026 to 2036, as the country seeks to reduce reliance on animal traction and manual labour in farming.

Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba announced the plan on February 3 during the opening of the African Conference on Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Dar es Salaam. Agriculture contributes about 23 percent of Tanzania’s gross domestic product and employs roughly 65 percent of the working population.

Under the new strategy, the government plans to acquire 10,000 tractors over the coming years and set up 1,000 integrated farm machinery service centres at neighbourhood level across the country. The centres will provide access to equipment, maintenance services, and trained operators for small and medium scale farmers.

Mechanization gains already visible

Recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows steady growth in the use of machines. The area cultivated using tractors rose to 4.35 million hectares in the 2023 to 2024 season, more than double the level recorded in the 2019 to 2020 campaign.

The number of small tractors in operation grew by 76 percent over the same period, rising from 8,883 units to 15,633 units. Large tractors also increased by 30.7 percent to reach 25,632 units.

“These figures show improved machine maintenance, operator training and spare parts availability, all of which are essential to maintaining equipment availability and productivity,” the ministry noted in its annual report.

Despite these gains, farmers still cultivated about 4.69 million hectares using animal traction in 2023 to 2024. Officials see this as clear room for wider use of machinery.

Land use and industry interest

Tanzania has close to 44 million hectares of arable land, but farmers currently cultivate only about 10.8 million hectares, or 24 percent of the total. Authorities link the low use rate to traditional farming methods that limit scale and output.

While the government has not yet confirmed where the planned 10,000 tractors will come from, talks with foreign suppliers have already taken place. In July 2025, a government team reviewed new machinery models from Belarusian manufacturer Minsk Tractor Works, also known as MTZ.

In January 2026, MTZ said it had held discussions with local industrial group Kiluwa on the possibility of setting up a tractor assembly unit in Tanzania. The company has supplied nearly 140 tractors to the country in recent years and sees growing demand as mechanization efforts expand.

If the talks move forward, local assembly could support faster delivery, better servicing, and wider access to farm machines as Tanzania moves ahead with its ten year plan.

Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World HERE.