Minjingu Mines and Fertilizer Limited, the only phosphate mining and fertilizer manufacturing company in East Africa which is resource-based and produces compound blended fertilizers, announced a USD 12 million expansion program.
The expansion will allow the company to increase its current production by 200%.
MD Tosky Hans said to the media that the capital injection and consequent increase in production capacity will significantly reduce the fertilizer shortages Tanzania is facing.
Tanzania currently imports over 70% of its fertiliser needs. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted the global supply of fertiliser, as Russia is the world’s largest producer.
Hand explained that the expansion plan will increase the production from 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes annually by 2024/25.
Tanzania Fertilizer Sector
The use of fertilizers in Tanzania is extremely low and remains below recommended rates, and low-input and rain-fed subsistence farming dominates Tanzania’s agriculture, contributing to poor crop yields.
High prices inhibit access to fertilizers by small-scale farmers (SSF).
In the 2022/2023 season, the Government planned to provide fertilizer subsidies to farmers with the aim of reducing the cost of fertilizers and increasing production and productivity in agriculture and strengthening food security.
The aim is to increase the use of fertilizer in the 2022/23 agricultural season to 500,000 tonnes, from 475,000 tonnes used by farmers in the 2020/21 farming season, and increase it to 800,000 tonnes by 2025.
