By Kilimokwanza.org Correspondent | Kilolo District, Iringa
The morning air over Kilolo District carried the kind of quiet that precedes something significant. Arranged across a stretch of land that not long ago lay largely idle, rows of tractors, planters, and harvesters gleamed under a clear January sky. These were not showpieces; they were the tools of an enterprise rewriting the script for smallholder agriculture in Tanzania.
On January 31, 2026, Farm for the Future (FFF) Ltd became the epicenter of one of the most grounded conversations in East African agribusiness: How do you get the right machine into the right farmer’s hands, at the right price, and in the right place?
A Meeting With Meaning
More than 45 delegates made the journey to Kilolo, representing:
- Farmer Cooperatives (AMCOS)
- Regional & District Agricultural Advisory Offices
- Research Institutions & Machinery Dealers
- Development Partners from Mbeya, Njombe, Iringa, and Morogoro.
The host was FFF, and the convener was the AGCOT Centre—Tanzania’s flagship agricultural transformation initiative. This gathering was a tactical execution of AGCOT’s 2025–2030 Strategy, which places mechanization access squarely at the center of the national agenda.
The Reality Check: Tanzania’s smallholder farmers rely on hand tools for over 95% of operations. Post-harvest losses reach 40%, and labor is becoming increasingly expensive and scarce.
From Growing Crops to Growing Access
Farm for the Future has built its reputation on production, but it is now pivoting toward a transformative service model: Lease-and-Purchase.
By targeting Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS), FFF is acting as a bridge between high-tech agricultural expos and the muddy, sun-beaten realities of the field.
Focus on “Priority Commodities”
The demonstration highlighted maize planters and mechanized potato harvesters. Irish potatoes are a priority for Tanzania, but traditional harvesting with hand hoes is destructive.
“When farmers harvest with hand hoes, many tubers are cut, leading to major losses,” explained Wilson Joel, Regional Agricultural Officer for Njombe. “These technologies protect farmer income and reduce the physical burden of work.”
He noted that Tanzania’s Vision 2050—which aims for a $100 billion agricultural economy—is impossible without this decisive shift.
The Farmer’s Voice: “Match the Technology to the Terrain”
The most critical perspective came from the farmers themselves. Sheriff Magindo, representing Igoma AMCOS, offered a dose of practical honesty.
“The machinery is impressive,” Magindo acknowledged, “but our production areas are different. We need technologies that match our environments and our capital.”
He proposed a cooperative-sharing model:
- Simpler equipment for fragmented, hilly terrain.
- Shared costs to protect narrow margins.
- Distributed access through the AMCOS structure.
This approach aligns perfectly with AGCOT’s cluster-based philosophy to double smallholder incomes by 2030.
AGCOT’s Vision: Can This Scale Across Four Corridors?
For the AGCOT Centre, the Kilolo visit was about scalability. Tanzania now operates four major corridors: SAGCOT (Southern Highlands), Mtwara, Central, and Northern.
Lilian Lugola of the AGCOT Centre articulated the strategic interest: “We are here to learn from FFF’s initiative, developed with Norway’s Underhug. We want to see how partnerships between private companies, farmer organizations, and public institutions—the cornerstone of the AGCOT model—can accelerate impact.”
These models will eventually be integrated into “Greenprints”—corridor-specific action plans that translate national strategy into local success.
More Than Machines: The Image of Modern Farming
Mechanization isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about youth. In a country where over 60% of the population is under 35, the “image” of farming matters.
Through initiatives like Building Better Tomorrow (BBT), the goal is to shift the perception of agriculture. A young farmer operating a precision planter via a tablet is a professional choosing a career; a farmer bent double in the sun is often someone with no other choice. Only the former will recruit the next generation.
Key Takeaways from the Kilolo Strategic Dialogue
| Focus Area | Strategic Goal |
| Mechanization | Shift from 95% hand-tool reliance to mechanized clusters. |
| Partnership | FFF & Norway’s Underhug providing the lease-to-own model. |
| Policy Link | Direct alignment with Tanzania Agriculture Master Plan 2050. |
| Economic Impact | Targeting a 10% agricultural GDP growth by 2030. |
A Model in the Making
As delegates left Kilolo, a new direction was clear. A private enterprise is willing to evolve, cooperatives are asking the right questions, and a national body (AGCOT) is ready to scale the results.
What was piloted in Kilolo was modest in scale but massive in implication. The machines parked on that Iringa hillside may one day be remembered as the quiet beginning of a $100 billion revolution.
Kilimokwanza.org is East Africa’s leading agricultural development platform, tracking the policies, people, and enterprises transforming the region’s food systems.