Agriculture in Tanzania

[citation needed] Almost 70 percent of the rich population live in rural areas,[2] and almost all of them are involved in the farming sector.

[6] The agriculture sector faces various challenges and had been the governments top priority to develop to reduce poverty and increase productivity.

[9] These pose severe challenges to the living standards of most of people involved in the agriculture industry in Tanzania and create huge increases in unemployment, hunger, malnutrition and starvation, and diseases rates.

[10][11] Large declines in commodity prices, decreased export revenues, increased trade and budget deficits all amount to hindering the growth of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

[17] Tanzania is one of the largest cashew producers in Africa, with exports providing 10-15 percent of the country's foreign exchange.

The country provides 20% of Africa's cashew nut and only trails in production of Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, and Guinea-Bissau, according to figures released in 2012 by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

[18] The country has been engaged in the production of the cash crop since before independence in the years 1960s however, poor regulation and lack of reliable payments to farmers have posed significant challenges to the Cashew Nut farming industry in Tanzania.