• How much edible oil does Tanzania import a year?
  • Critical IOA Unit Tanzania imports 320,000 tons of edible oil per year. Tanzania¡¯s annual demand for edible oil stands at 500,000 tons, whereas the country can supply only 180,000 tons, forcing it to import 320,000 tons each year, signaling major opportunities for import substitution (7).
  • What is the largest oilseed crop in Tanzania?
  • Accounting for 35% of all oilseed production in Tanzania, sunflower is the largest oilseed crop in Tanzania. Sunflower has an enormous potential in Tanzania, as it grows well in all regions, even in areas with low rainfall.
  • Are edible oils a key to the success of Tanzania’s agriculture sector?
  • November 2017 2 Context: The study is informed by the Government of Tanzania¡¯s commitment to industrialize the economy, as framed in the latest Five-Year Development Plan, and the identification of the edible oils value chain as key to the success of the agriculture sector Three edible oils studies are being conducted in parallel.
  • Does Tanzania have a potential in the sunflower oil sector?
  • Tanzania has great potential in the sunflower oil seeds sector, which can be scaled-up as one of its key sectors for industrial development.
  • Does Tanzania have a shortage of edible oil?
  • While the local and regional market for edible oils is large and growing, local supply in Tanzania is not keeping up. Given a shortfall of 360K metric tons, Tanzania imports over 60% of the country¡¯s cooking oil. This costs USD 250M in palm oil imports every year, making it the sector with the second highest foreign exchange transactions by value.
  • Should SMEs invest in edible oils in Tanzania?
  • In particular, the team found that large Tanzanian companies are well positioned to make this investment; investors can source raw materials from local SMEs, which would experience higher productivity from rising demand. In late 2017, the USAID team designed a three-phase feasibility study for the edible oils sector.