By Business Insider Reporter
Tanzania’s farmers are facing a major market access challenge as global buyers, particularly in the European Union, tighten rules on digital traceability, deforestation-free sourcing and full supply-chain transparency.
These regulations come at a time when only 15 percent of East African agribusinesses are aware of the new requirements.
With €2.75 billion worth of East African agricultural exports now at risk, Tanzania – whose economy is heavily anchored in smallholder farming – finds itself racing against time to close a widening compliance gap.
The EU remains one of the most important markets for Tanzanian agricultural commodities including coffee, tea, cashews, horticulture, spices and oilseeds. Under the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), exporters must now prove the exact origin of each shipment, verify that the produce does not come from deforested land, and present digital traceability records that track each product from the farm to the port.
For Tanzanian farmers – many of whom do not have formal land titles and operate in fragmented supply chains – meeting these standards presents a serious challenge.
If exporters fail to comply, the consequences for Tanzanian farmers could be severe. Buyers may push down farm-gate prices, reduce purchase volumes or shift to countries that are quicker to adopt digital traceability systems.
Farmers depend heavily on the EU for premium-priced markets, especially in coffee and horticulture. Losing access would immediately reduce incomes, increase uncertainty and undermine rural livelihoods.
Cooperatives could also lose contracts if they cannot demonstrate clean and verified supply chains, leaving thousands of smallholders with no alternative buyers. The impact on youth and women – who dominate Tanzania’s horticulture and coffee processing sector – would be particularly acute.
The threat is not theoretical; signs of market contraction have already emerged. Reports in 2024 showed that some EU buyers had slowed purchases from East African suppliers due to concerns about traceability.
Experts warn that unless Tanzania acts quickly, it may fall behind regional competitors such as Kenya and Rwanda, whose exporters have begun scaling digital traceability solutions.
During a regional webinar hosted by Swiss AgriTech firm Koltiva, industry specialists stressed that the real challenge is not technology itself, but the pace of adoption.
Susan Atyang of the Agricultural Business Initiative explained that traceability is now directly linked to market competitiveness and financial inclusion. Others, such as Café Africa’s Waithera Muriithi, highlighted that farmers embrace digital systems once they understand the benefits, arguing that the primary gap is awareness rather than ability.
There are promising developments within Tanzania. Digital traceability pilots for coffee have been introduced in Kilimanjaro and Arusha. Cashew traceability initiatives are underway in Mtwara, and horticulture exporters in Arusha and Tanga are experimenting with digital compliance hubs.
Yet these efforts remain scattered and far from the national scale required to meet the EU’s strict timelines.
The digital divide, however, continues to slow progress. Rural internet penetration remains low. Smartphone ownership is still limited, especially among the poorest farmers.
Land documentation is incomplete in many regions, making it difficult to prove legal land use. Cooperatives lack the digital record-keeping systems needed to maintain accurate and compliant supply-chain data.
With most smallholders living below the poverty line, the idea of placing the full cost of compliance on farmers is neither realistic nor fair.
Industry experts suggest that joint investment models – where buyers, processors, government and development partners share the cost of compliance – are the only workable solution. As Koltiva’s Senior Head of Markets, Fanny Butler, put it, sustainability is impossible without traceability, and early movers will gain the largest market advantage. Shared responsibility, she argued, is the only way to scale compliance across smallholder-dominated landscapes.
The long-term opportunity, however, is substantial. East Africa is projected to contribute nearly one-fifth of additional global agricultural production in the next decade. Tanzania’s rising coffee output, expanding avocado production and competitive cashew sector position it well for growth.
But continued access to premium markets will depend on how swiftly exporters, cooperatives and government agencies can bridge the traceability gap.
For Tanzania, the path forward demands immediate action. Farmers must be digitally onboarded, land documentation needs to be fast-tracked and cooperatives must become the backbone of national traceability systems. Without these steps, the country risks losing markets it has spent decades building. With them, Tanzania can protect its farmers, strengthen rural incomes and secure its place in the world’s most valuable agricultural markets. The stakes are high, and the clock is ticking – but the opportunity remains within reach.
