Reflections on annual pulses market outlook

It is a naked truth and probably a grateful thing to notice that the year 2022 is slowly hanging its hat and sailing to the sunset. Many of the agricultural operations, especially pulses set to be accomplished in this timeline, are now facing closing and plans for next year are on the heat.

Tanzania is home to a number of pulses crops grown in almost every region whereby nearly everyone specialises in its kind of dry legume depending on its type of soil, climate and traditions. Pulses crops that are commercially produced in the country are; Dry beans, Pigeon peas, Chickpeas, Green grams and Cowpeas. Generally, this year went so well with regard to markets of many of the pulses; local and international, save for a brief slow-down of export permit issuance by the Ministry of Agriculture between May and June or so.

A slowdown was deliberately trying to ensure food security in the country following the disruption of the global food supply chiefly caused by the Russia Ukraine war, but as noted before, it was brief.

The following are cropby-crop diagnoses which will help a reader get a deeper understanding of what exactly transpired in the sector. This selective diagnosis is imperative because every crop carries with it characteristics which uniquely differentiate it from the rest.

Pigeon peas Like many of the pulses, Mbaazi, as they are popularly known in Swahili, do grow in semi-arid environments and have a little carbon footprint. Regions that grow them include; Mtwara, Lindi, Manyara, Arusha, Dodoma and Morogoro.

Their planting season is around January and February, whereas its harvests begin in July and August every year, this is subject to weather conditions as almost all pigeon peas farming is rainfed. Mbaazi’s (Arusha variety) price at one time in November was trading at around 1,300 Shillings, up from around 1,000 Shillings.

An increment could be due to low production in the country that was cussed by the low amount of rainfall. As usual, India was the leading importer.

It should be noted that India is the leading consumer of pigeon peas in the world a status it has held for years now. Chickpeas Dengu, a Swahili word for the same, is currently trading at around 1,200 Shillings in Dar Es Salaam. It is chiefly produced in Manyara, Singida, Shinyanga, Mwanza and Simiyu.

Chickpeas are arguably the second highly consumed pulse in the country after dry beans, with which some experts put the rate at around 30 per cent. Last year, we exported a total of 135,000 tons of chickpeas up from less than 120,000 tons the previous year.

Dry beans It is the most consumed pulse in the country with per capita consumption currently standing at around 14 kilograms.

It forms 60 per cent of all pulses produced in the country and is the most popular member of the legume family. Beans enjoy extensive relevance to many consumers in the region’s varied markets in Europe and America. While the rest of the pulses thrives in the Northern and Southern parts of Tanzania, Beans do grows so conspicuously in Southern Highlands and regions in the Lake Zone.

This year was also an impressive one as it is trading between 3,000 and 3,600 Shillings in different markets in Dar Es Salaam.

With their origins in Mexico, dry beans have a huge content of protein with zero cholesterol, just like the rest of pulses, and embolden vegetarians and health enthusiasts in their pursuit of seeing off meat consumption in the world. Green grams Yet another influential member of the dried legumes family who is largely underrated.

Last year, it brought in more than 27 million US dollars up from 19 million US dollars the previous year. Before import restrictions were imposed in 2017 by the Indian Government, Green grams alone brought in more than 65 million US dollars from its exports in 2016.

This speaks volumes to anyone who thinks that the subsector is of little value in the country. Green grams are usually harvested between January and March every year and to date, India has a command of how much can be consumed.

This year, the production was relatively well. The only scenario that wanted to do the entire beautiful execution was when the Shinyanga region started blocking all tracks that passed its borders for pointless reasons.

Central Government’s intelligent intervention salvaged what was going to be the worst show of the season. If we can perform at this rate without having a Memorandum of Understanding with the leading importer of pulses in the world, India, one can imagine how much we will achieve if we get one.