Towards Organic Agriculture: Assessing the Dynamics of Production and Exporting of Organic Cocoa in Tanzania

Global trade in agrifoods has changed dramatically in the past two decades due to changes in technology, increased competition and shifts in consumer demands, tastes and preferences in terms of food quality, food safety and other food attributes. As a result the demand for organic agricultural products has been growing in international markets. This paper reviews organic cocoa production and exporting in Tanzania using both empirical and descriptive approaches. The findings show a modest growth in production and export of organic cocoa in Tanzania for a period of 2005 to 2013. However, the growth recorded is below Tanzania’s organic cocoa existing production potentials, and this can be attributed to lack of organic agriculture policy, shortage of expertise in organic farming and high certification costs charged by buying companies at present. Nonetheless, there exists a growing demand for organic cocoa in global markets and Tanzania produces high quality organic cocoa, implying the need to exploit this existing opportunity by expanding organic cocoa production and exports. Thus, the study recommends a revisit of the agriculture policy and other complementary policies to provide appropriate regulatory and policy framework for organic agriculture in a bid to unlock the potentials and address the challenges that face small-holder farmers.