Tanzania has allocated 23.4 billion shillings (US$9 million) to expand irrigation infrastructure as part of efforts to boost agricultural productivity and reduce reliance on rain-fed farming, the agriculture ministry said.
The Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday handed over new irrigation equipment to the National Irrigation Commission (NIRC), aimed at accelerating irrigation projects across the country ahead of the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
The equipment includes 19 heavy-duty drilling rigs capable of reaching depths of between 300 and 1,800 metres, as well as 17 transport vehicles, two trailers and 23 motorcycles, according to officials.
Authorities plan to drill 500 irrigation wells across 178 districts in the 2025/2026 fiscal year under a project expected to irrigate 30,393 hectares (75,100 acres) of farmland and benefit about 58,900 farmers.
Agriculture Minister Daniel Chongolo said the purchases were financed through the government’s irrigation development budget, which totals 308.7 billion shillings (US$120.6 million) for the upcoming fiscal year.
“The ministry will continue to supervise and monitor the availability of funds to ensure that these projects are implemented efficiently and completed on time,” Chongolo said at the handover ceremony.
Agriculture employs about two-thirds of Tanzania’s workforce and contributes roughly a quarter of gross domestic product, but productivity remains constrained by limited irrigation, climate variability and infrastructure gaps.
The government has prioritised irrigation expansion as part of its strategy to improve food security, stabilise farm output and raise rural incomes amid increasingly erratic rainfall patterns linked to climate change.
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Under a five-year irrigation development plan adopted in 2022, the NIRC aims to more than double Tanzania’s irrigated land to 1.67 million hectares by 2028. The current irrigated area stands at less than 800,000 hectares, according to official figures.
Despite the ambitious target, the planned expansion would still leave much of the country’s irrigation potential untapped. Government data estimate Tanzania’s total irrigation development potential at 29.4 million hectares.
Of this total, about 2.3 million hectares are classified as high-potential irrigation land, 4.8 million hectares as medium potential and 22.3 million hectares as low potential, reflecting varying water availability, soil quality and infrastructure requirements.
Officials say expanding irrigation is critical to reducing post-harvest losses, supporting commercial farming and cushioning farmers against droughts, which have become more frequent in parts of the country.
The government has increasingly relied on public investment and donor-backed programmes to finance irrigation schemes, alongside efforts to attract private sector participation in large-scale projects.
Analysts say sustained funding, strong project oversight and maintenance of infrastructure will be key to translating investment into higher agricultural output and long-term food security.
