Tanzania opts to digitalize its agricultural system
DODOMA: THE Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, has officially launched a digital agricultural extension system known as e-Kilimo (Digital Extension) aimed at enhancing services for farmers and ensuring accountability among agricultural extension officers across the country.
The system was inaugurated today, July 16, 2025, at the Mtanana Crop Innovation Center in Kongwa District. Minister Bashe explained that the system will enable farmers to view the number of extension officers available in their area, their locations, and how to easily contact them.
Furthermore, Minister Bashe stated that every extension officer will be required to fill out a service performance form, which will be used to assess their work effectiveness at the end of each year. This measure will help identify officers who fulfill their duties properly and take disciplinary action against those who fail to meet their responsibilities.
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Minister Bashe also highlighted that the system aims to foster a culture of accountability among extension officers and improve the security of agricultural input distribution. The Ministry of Agriculture plans to start registering input sellers to ensure that if a farmer is sold counterfeit inputs, it will be easier to trace the network involved and take appropriate actions in the national interest.
The e-Kilimo system is expected to significantly improve services to farmers by increasing transparency and accountability in the delivery of agricultural extension services nationwide.
It’s recommendable good move for elite farmers to access e-extension services . My inputs is to change the farming model from pull and push , farmers must chase for information and not extension officers supply information to farmers .
We can support extension to own training farms (6-10 acres) based on selected commercial crops per area thus farmers would attend training at that demo farm which will be equiped with necessary farming inputs and impliments.
E-extension can be configured in levels , i.e. generic farming practices information, special crops GAPs , farmer -extension interface, resilience farming (CSA) , linkages between service providers and producers , markets , auxiliary farming services (middleman) , transporters , inputs suppliers , storages etc