Agriculture - Tanzania

Agriculture is the leading sector of the economy of Tanzania. Apart from providing food, agriculture remains the country's main source of income for the rural population, which forms 80% of the total population and employs 70% of the active labour force of the population. It contributes about 50% of the GDP and about 75% of the foreign exchange earnings. In Tanzania Agriculture is dominated by smallholder farmers with farm sizes ranging between 1 hectare and 3 hectares. Most of these smallholders use the hand hoe as the main cultivating tool. Ox ploughs are used by about twenty percent of the farmers and about ten per cent use tractors.
A wide variety of crops can be grown in Tanzania due to its wide climatic variation and agro-ecological conditions. Area cultivated for food production makes up the bigger part of land under crop production. Maize and rice are principal food crops as well as commercial crops, while cassava and bananas are important subsistence crops. Traditional export crops of Tanzania are coffee, cotton, tea, sisal and cashew nuts. Other widely grown crops include beans, sorghum, millet, sweet potatoes and various types of oil seeds. A wide variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers are also grown in Tanzania.