Agricultural economy & structure

Real value added in agriculture, forestry and fishing on the Mainland grew by 5.1% in 2024 and 5.5% in 2025, while GDP grew by 5.6% and 5.9%¹. Over 2017–2025 agricultural growth stayed between 3.7% and 6.6% a year¹. Livestock grew by between 4.6% and 5.5% a year and fishing varied from −7.0% to 18.7%¹. In the first quarter of 2026 agriculture grew by 4.6% and GDP by 6.0%².

At current prices agriculture's share of Mainland GDP declined from 26.0% in 2016 to 24.3% in 2025¹. Part of the level reflects measurement. The 2019 rebasing raised GDP for 2019 by 3.4% and lowered agricultural value added by 5.3%, and agriculture's share for that year fell from 27.1% to 24.8%³. Crops accounted for TZS 29.8 trillion of the TZS 56.8 trillion of agricultural value added in 2025, livestock for TZS 15.7 trillion, forestry for TZS 6.2 trillion and fishing for TZS 5.1 trillion¹. The share is seasonal, ranging from 20.0% of quarterly GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 30.1% in the third quarter of 2025, when crops are harvested⁴.

In dollar terms World Bank data show agricultural value added rising from US$8.19 billion in 2010 to US$20.65 billion in 2025, while the shilling's annual average moved from 1,395.63 to 2,537.6 per US dollar⁵⁶⁷.

Agriculture has a smaller weight in Zanzibar's economy than on the Mainland. On the harmonised series agriculture made up 20.6% of Zanzibar's GDP in 2025, against 24.3% of Mainland GDP, and grew by 5.6%, after falling by 6.6% in 2021⁸¹. OCGS's own report on the 2015 base gives an agricultural share of 23.5% for 2025⁹.

Labour force surveys measure agriculture's share of employment on different definitions. The 2020/21 survey, which counted production of primary products for own consumption as employment, found 64.9% of employed persons in agriculture, while the 2024 and 2025 surveys, which follow the 19th ICLS standards, found 54.2% and 54.4%²⁶²⁷²⁸. In Zanzibar the 2025 share was 28.4%²⁸. The ILO's modelled estimate was 64.6% in 2025²⁹. The 2022 census counted 61.74 million people, 65.1% in rural areas, and 43.2% of employed persons in agricultural and fishery occupations²². On World Bank data 33.7% of the rural population had access to electricity in 2024³⁰.

The Household Budget Survey of 2017/18 put basic needs poverty on the Mainland at 26.4%, against 28.2% in 2011/12 and 34.4% in 2007, with 31.3% in rural areas and 8.0% in Dar es Salaam³¹. Food poverty was 9.7% in rural areas³¹. In Zanzibar basic needs poverty fell from 30.4% in 2014/15 to 25.7% in 2019/20³². Results of the 2024/25 survey had not been published by October 2026³³.

The National Sample Census of Agriculture 2019/20 counted 7,837,405 agricultural households in the United Republic, up from 5,838,523 in 2007/08³⁷. Of these, 5.09 million grew crops only and 2.59 million combined crops and livestock³⁷. Holding sizes are spread widely. 1.33 million households held 1 hectare or less and 2.57 million held more than 5 hectares (own calculation from the census classes), and the Main Report gives an average of 2.7 hectares of land available per smallholder household, of which 2.3 hectares was used³⁸.

Input use is limited. Improved seed covered 20.0% and fertiliser 20.1% of the 13.75 million hectares cultivated in 2019/20, and 60.6% of the fertilised area received organic fertiliser according to the Key Findings Report, while the Main Report gives 39.6% organic and 60.4% inorganic³⁷³⁸. Households irrigated 289,386 hectares, and 7.0% of crop households received extension advice³⁷. The census counted 33.9 million cattle, 24.6 million goats and 8.5 million sheep on 1 August 2020³⁷.

Agricultural land covered 39.9 million hectares in 2024, 45.1% of the land area, of which 13.7 million hectares were arable³⁹. The Land Act and the Village Land Act of 1999 divide land into general, reserved and village land, and village land is held under customary rights of occupancy⁴⁰⁴¹.