Minister assures farmers of fertiliser availability in 2026/27 season
DAR ES SALAAM: THE government has assured farmers nationwide over the availability of fertiliser to meet their demand in the coming 2026/2027 farming season.
“There shouldn’t be any fear or panic over the availability or supply of fertiliser as we have plenty of stock in our warehouses,” Minister for Agriculture, Mr Daniel Chongolo, said this week after conducting on-the-spot inspection of depots in Dar es Salaam.
“Farmers should be patient because our big importers have huge stock of the farm input in their warehouses in preparation for the 2026/27 season,” he added.
In the wake of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war and the soaring oil prices triggered by the Iran-US and Israel war, the minister also re-assured farmers that the government fertiliser subsidy programme launched five years ago would continue to enable increased food and cash crop output.
Accompanied by the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory (TFRA) Executive Director, Mr Joel Laurent and other senior officials, Mr Chongolo inspected fertiliser warehouses of ETG and Yara companies where he was told preparations for fertiliser supply to farmers for 2026/2037 season are underway.
Under its “Kilimo ni Mbolea” drive, the government plans to use 1.5 million tonnes of fertiliser in the next season, of which 400,000 tonnes would be supplied by domestic producers, according to Mr Chongolo.
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Both ETG and Yara fertiliser dealers expressed their commitment to ensure that there’s enough fertiliser supply to farmers beginning next month before the onset of the farming season.
“We’re committed to bring more fertiliser as we have ordered 320,000 tonnes before the season begins,” said ETG Business Head, Mr Ranjeet Kumar.
On his part, Yara Chief Financial Officer, January Fabian assured farmers that his organisation has ordered 26,000 tonnes for farming season 2026/27.
Winding up his tour of the warehouses, Mr Chongolo revealed that a team of experts is visiting regions to assess the performance for the agricultural sector during the 2025/2026 season to facilitate the fertiliser needs for farmers this coming season.
The minister emphasised the importance of self-sufficiency in fertiliser production domestically as the only answer to reliance on imported fertilisers.
