Supplier development-the catalyst for empowering smallholders in supplying high-value products-a case of fruits and vegetable in northern Tanzania

Tanzania is an agricultural country and most of its people about 80% are farmers and mostly smallholders. Tanzanian agriculture is mainly for subsistence and to a very low level commercial by producing traditional crops like coffee, cotton, tea, cocoa and sisal. Nowadays, the prices for these products have deteriorated. Consequently, Tanzania would like to revive its agricultural sector, however, this time by growing high-value products like fruits and vegetables. However, Tanzanian growers are still faced with several constraints including: poor technology capacity, low productivity, outdated and inefficient transportation and communication infrastructure and unskilled manpower to mention few of them. Tanzanian farmers and/or suppliers can do well through supplier development programs. This study was carried out in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions in Tanzania and involved four institutions namely. The study comprised the case study and survey analysis of buying firms and farmers. It has been learned that the main problem with many Tanzanian smallholders is lack of education. However, smallholders can be successful if they will be organized into groups or associations and thereafter be connected to other participants like traders, exporters, processors, government entities and other private sector collaborators. In developing smallholder farmers, there are still some pitfalls that hinder seamless implementation of supplier development programs; these include reluctance to change, lack of commitments, entertaining corrupt practices and some policy issues like lack of infrastructure improvements, appropriate transportation and storage facilities and attraction to foreign direct investment.