Tanzania’s smallholder farmers struggle to benefit from digital agriculture

What the report says

In a report published by Al Jazeera on 6 Nov. 2026, smallholder farmers in Tanzania said digital agriculture services are not yet delivering the benefits they were meant to provide. The article focuses on farmers in the Dodoma region, including Theresia Abel Nyoka, Jeremiah Luwe, Adam Rashidi, Shaban Omary and Vedalinda Asiya, who described limited training, weak digital literacy and slow replies as major barriers to using government platforms such as M-Kilimo and e-Kilimo.

M-Kilimo is a Ministry of Agriculture mobile service that offers market information, farming advice and a way to contact extension workers, while e-Kilimo is a wider government platform available through a website and smartphone app. According to Al Jazeera, some farmers had heard of the services or registered for them, but many still depended on cooperatives, warehouse auctions, television or public meetings for price and market updates. One farmer said responses could take up to two weeks, making the information arrive too late to be useful.

The report said Tanzania is investing in digital agriculture through a $3.62 million joint programme running from September 2024 to August 2027, with goals that include improving digital literacy for 500,000 farmers and training 500 extension workers. Al Jazeera also cited a 2024 study showing millions of registrations on M-Kilimo, but noted that registration figures do not prove active use or real gains for farmers.

Experts quoted in the article said digital tools could help narrow the information gap for smallholders, but only if they are designed around local conditions, supported by training, and linked to existing offline systems such as cooperatives and commodity markets.