Stephen Michael (Ministry of Livestock & Fisheries), Elizabeth Christopher Swai (AKM Glitters/Compact Chair), Steve Kisake (Axum Consulting), Dr. Simba Mfaume (Silverlands Tanzania), and Khalid Mgaramo (AGCOT) on implementation, investment, and scaling to 380,000 tonnes.
On 1 August 2026, at the Nane Nane Agricultural Exhibition in Dodoma, Prime Minister Dr. Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba launched Tanzania’s landmark National Poultry Development Strategy (NPDS) 2026–2036. The 10-year roadmap, built on two and a half years of private-sector-led dialogue, targets a tripling of the nation’s poultry output: meat production from 156,000 to 380,000 tonnes annually; eggs from 7.1 billion to over 17 billion; and GDP contribution from 1.8% to 3%. Requiring approximately TZS 3.5 trillion in investment—over 60% from the private sector—the strategy is fundamentally anchored in whole-of-value-chain collaboration. Critically, it reflects the voices of Tanzania’s poultry ecosystem: from smallholder farmers to commercial processors. We spoke with five architects and practitioners shaping the sector’s decade ahead.
Stephen Michael
Director, Production and Market Development, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries
We drafted this strategy at precisely the right moment. Vision 2050 is now in implementation phase, and the poultry sector is a critical entry point for that vision.
The issue is straightforward: demand far exceeds supply. Our own 2015 assessment projected that without proper investment, Tanzania would face a two-million-tonne meat deficit by 2030. Of that, one million tonnes would be chicken. We’re responding to that gap directly.
The three immediate challenges are feed costs—we import over 90% of our maize and soya—livestock diseases, and access to quality day-old chicks. Government’s role is clear: create an enabling environment. We provide business certainty, demonstration farms, training, and research. The private sector mobilises capital for hatcheries, feed mills, cold chains, processing infrastructure. That is the model this strategy embeds.
The strategy depends on over TZS 2.6 trillion in private investment. Without stakeholder buy-in—banks, development partners, state enterprises, farmers themselves—we have a document, not a programme. After launch, we move immediately to implementation. Young people have extraordinary opportunity here. We’re designing a youth-focused lending scheme through the Agricultural Bank of Tanzania: interest-free credit for poultry enterprises. Capital and collateral have always been the barrier. We’re removing those barriers now.
Elizabeth Christopher Swai
Director, AKM Glitters Company Limited; Chair, Government–Private Sector Compact Committee
We spent nearly three years on this—a 19-member technical team, two years of drafting, mentored by AGCOT, funded by AGCOT. The lineage traces back to a Compact we forged two and a half years ago in Mbeya: government commits to a formal strategy; private sector commits to implementation partnership.
Today’s launch is a beginning, not an endpoint. The real test is money. We need funds for a detailed implementation plan and budget. A strategy without a working budget is just paper.
But what I want to emphasise is this: the strategy cannot succeed without quality. Biosecurity, hygiene, safe farming practices—these are foundations. We cannot aspire to export markets without them. Every farmer, every processor must understand: if there is no chicken at an event, people feel something is missing. That cultural centrality of poultry is our competitive advantage. But it also means we must earn consumer trust through quality.
The Compact itself was the method that worked. Discrete, structured dialogue between government and industry. No noise, no conflict. Problems got resolved. Policy shifted. That is how change happens quietly and sustainably. Moving forward, we need exactly that: the right stakeholders, used quietly, solving problems together.
Steve Kisake
CEO and Founder, Axum
We worked across four critical areas in designing this strategy: input quality, production systems, processing infrastructure, and enabling environment.
On inputs: feed is everything. Maize and soya are the backbone. The strategy integrates domestic production into poultry farming—end import dependency. That requires linking smallholder maize and soya farmers directly into feed manufacturing value chains. Second, we examined production itself. Quality day-old chicks are chronically scarce. Modern hatcheries can change that. But production also means hygiene standards, biosecurity protocols, proper housing distances—the unglamorous systems work that most farmers skip.
Third, processing. We have slaughter facilities, yes, but not enough. And the ones we have are not to export standard. This is where youth investment is immediate: smallholder slaughter infrastructure, cold chains, hygiene certification—these are capital-light, skills-intensive opportunities.
Fourth, the enabling environment. Policy, regulation, breeder acts, but fundamentally training. Technology changes daily. New breeds arrive constantly. Farmers need continuous skill development. Young people especially—they will drive the productivity gains we’re targeting.
The market exists. No doctor has ever told a patient not to eat chicken. In Tanzania, per capita egg consumption is 107 per person annually—that is low. We aim for 210. Per capita chicken meat consumption is 3 kilos per year—also low. Both will rise. Markets will pull this sector forward. Young people need to understand one thing: enter this as business, not hobby. Get training, develop a business plan, understand your market, then go to a financial institution. Banks are now actively lending into poultry. They will fund you.
Dr. Simba Mfaume
Silverlands Tanzania Limited, Iringa
This strategy is well-constructed. It maps the entire value chain visibly. Where there are problems, they are now identifiable and solvable. One concrete example: we are facing an immediate constraint with EFD receipting.
Our company committed to purchasing 4,000 tonnes of maize between now and December. To date, we’ve sourced under 450 tonnes. The barrier is this: Tanzania Revenue Authority requires EFD receipts for all purchases to count as production expenses. But most maize aggregators and farmers lack EFD machines. So large buyers face a catch-22—we need maize, aggregators want to sell, but without receipts our costs cannot be documented. That impacts production planning across the entire cold chain.
This is a regulatory constraint, not a market one. It requires coordination between TRA, Ministry of Livestock, and the sector itself. This is precisely where AGCOT—now evolving into AGCOT—matters. These problems require people who understand policy ecosystems, who know which institutions must be brought together, who can facilitate without shouting in media. Quiet, structured engagement: that solves problems. That changes policy. No noise, no conflict, no noise.
Chicken is at the centre of every celebration. If there is no chicken, something feels missing. That cultural reality is profound. But it means farmers and investors must understand: you are entering a business with guaranteed demand. What you need is efficiency, volume, quality, and access to markets. This strategy provides the framework. Investment and discipline will provide the returns.
Khalid Mgaramo
Cluster Manager, Ihemi Cluster (Iringa/Njombe), AGCOT
AGCOT’s journey with poultry began under SAGCOT. We worked value chains in the Mbalali cluster—poultry itself—whilst in Ihemi we developed dairy and soya. That soya work was critical: we showed how domestic soya production could feed both smallholder and commercial poultry operations, replacing costly imports.
These weren’t abstract exercises. Across value chains, we gathered evidence of recurring constraints: feed costs, disease, weak breeding stock, market access. Stakeholders told us repeatedly: these problems need a national framework, not cluster-level workarounds. That insight became the Compact—a formal commitment between government and private sector associations that government would produce a formal national strategy.
Two and a half years later, the strategy is launched. It reflects ground reality. It is not a bureaucratic wish list.
Implementation now depends on whether the same stakeholders who shaped this document stay engaged. The strategy identifies opportunities—some old, some emerging. For instance, recently sector players have raised concerns about the policy environment around feed processing, specifically around tax documentation for smallholder suppliers. These are real frictions. The framework is now in place to address them systematically. As new challenges arise—and they will—the same collaborative method that built this strategy must solve them.
Young people have genuine opportunity across the entire chain: vaccines, chicks, feed formulation, slaughter, cold storage, digital markets. Volume is rising. Demand is rising. Efficiency and quality are the limiting factors now. This strategy commits government to removing barriers. The rest is up to the sector itself.