USAID-TAPP monthly bulletin #33

in conjunction with the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA). The program aims to increase smallholder farmer incomes through enhanced productivity, crop diversification, and improved market access. USAID-TAPP is part of the Feed the Future initiative, a global hunger and food security program launched by the US government to break the cycle of hunger and poverty in the developing world. The program is focusing on the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor (SAGCOT), a region identified by the Tanzanian government as the most conducive for agricultural growth. USAID-TAPP is working with partners and the Government of Tanzania to concentrate efforts on selected crops and regions, particularly SAGCOT, to help transform the country's food security. The program is also building on existing initiatives, such as the market collection points introduced in 2010. USAID-TAPP has achieved significant results in its first year of implementation. Project beneficiaries have invested over $2 million of their own money to put an additional 11,800 hectares under production using recommended technologies. Average yields have increased by 46 percent, resulting in average farmer incomes of $1,665. The program has also seen a 400 percent increase in production and a 400 percent increase in income for farmer Chumi Hussein, who implemented good agricultural practices on his one-acre farm in Mikumi, Morogoro. The program has also established a formal partnership with international input supply companies Seed Co. and Triachem to develop a chain of farm service centers for smallholder farmers in unserved areas, concentrating in the SAGCOT area. These centers will provide access to inputs, finance, crop insurance, and marketing opportunities for farmers in some of the most rural, yet potentially productive areas of Tanzania. Additionally, commercial partner Rungwe Avocado Company Ltd. is expected to train 5,000 smallholder farmers in Mbeya and Njombe in good agricultural practices and add 510 hectares to production using USAID-TAPP's technology package. USAID-TAPP continues to develop the capacity of local exporters to identify and access appropriate markets for Tanzanian goods in Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Commercial partner Rungwe Avocado Company Ltd. has already trained 2,000 farmers, 1,000 of whom are now Global GAP certified for export production. The company has increased its avocado exports to European markets from one shipping container last year to six containers in March, representing 133 tons of avocados exported to UK buyer Mack Multiples, with a projection of 30 containers in 2013.