Securing food through loss reduction and climate action

Agriculture is the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, yet farmers face growing challenges from climate change. Unpredictable weather, floods, droughts, pests and diseases threaten crop growth and harvests.

Another critical issue is post‑harvest food loss, which occurs during storage, processing and transport. Many smallholder farmers lack proper storage facilities, leaving crops vulnerable to spoilage and pest infestation.

To address these challenges, Farm Africa, with funding from AGRA, is implementing the Securing Food Through Loss Reduction and Climate Action – Tulinde Chakula project. The project’s overarching goal is to improve smallholder farmers’ food security and livelihood resilience through enhanced climate resilience and adoption of food loss reduction solutions.

The project is expected to significantly reduce post-harvest losses in maize and rice by accelerating the adoption of climate-smart food loss reduction solutions, thereby increasing food availability, safety and household incomes for smallholder farmers.

By strengthening market systems, expanding access to affordable technologies and finance, and prioritising women and young people, the project will enhance farmers’ climate resilience, livelihoods, and participation in inclusive agribusiness value chains, while also contributing to lower greenhouse gas emissions and more sustainable food systems.

The project works across four of Tanzania’s major maize and rice‑producing regions, with a strong focus on the Southern Highlands. The project is being implemented in Ruvuma, Njombe, Mbeya, and Songwe regions, with direct implementation across 11 districts within these regions.

Farmers, village‑based advisors and agro‑dealers are being trained in climate‑smart agriculture and modern crop‑handling techniques. Alongside this, the project is introducing modern storage facilities, digital tools and equipment such as harvesters, hermetic bags, threshers, shellers and smart silos with sensors.

To make these solutions affordable, farmers are connected with premium service providers under subsidy programmes and given better access to finance.

The project is helping reduce losses, improve grain quality and boost incomes, strengthening food security and resilience for farming families across the Southern regions of Tanzania.