Laying the Foundation for AGCOT
📘 Overview
The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Investment Blueprint, launched in 2011 under the Kilimo Kwanza (“Agriculture First”) strategy, is a landmark document that transformed Tanzania’s approach to agricultural development. Designed to attract private sector investment, enhance food security, reduce poverty, and build climate resilience, it laid the groundwork for one of Africa’s most successful agricultural corridors.
🛠️ Origins & Development
An Executive Committee, co-chaired by Tanzania’s Minister of Agriculture and Unilever’s EVP for North and Central Africa, commissioned the Blueprint. It was developed by experts from Prorustica and AgDevCo, with support from the Tanzania Agricultural Partnership and the World Economic Forum.
Published in January 2011, the Blueprint was the first of its kind to propose a corridor-wide agricultural investment plan with a focus on both commercial and smallholder sectors.
🌍 Vision & Goals
The Blueprint envisioned turning Tanzania’s southern corridor into the “breadbasket of Tanzania and beyond.” Its core goal was to:
- Link smallholder farmers to commercial agriculture through hub-and-outgrower models
- Provide access to inputs, extension services, markets, and agro-processing facilities
- Promote socially inclusive, commercially viable agricultural clusters
📊 Strategic Approach
Key features of the strategy included:
- Development of agriculture clusters in six high-potential zones
- A 20-year horizon for transformation, backed by rigorous data and planning
- Establishing the SAGCOT Partnership as a public-private coordination body
- Use of innovative financing, including catalytic and patient capital
- Integration of environmental sustainability and climate-smart agriculture
💰 Investment Plan
The SAGCOT Blueprint targeted:
- $2.1 billion in private investments over 20 years
- $1.3 billion in public grants and loans
- $445 million in public investment in the first 5 years (especially rural roads)
- A $50 million catalytic fund to support early-stage agribusinesses
🎯 Projected Impact by 2030
Anticipated outcomes included:
- 350,000 hectares under profitable production
- 420,000 jobs created
- 2 million+ people lifted out of poverty
- $1.2 billion in annual farming revenue
- Surges in national food supply, including:
- 680,000 tonnes of field crops
- 630,000 tonnes of rice
- 4.4 million tonnes of sugarcane
- 3,500 tonnes of red meat
- 32,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables
✅ Results Achieved (2011–2024)
By 2024, SAGCOT had:
- Mobilized $6.34 billion in total investment (111% of target)
- Empowered 1 million+ smallholder farmers
- Brought 1.3 million hectares under climate-smart practices
- Generated $606 million in farmer income
- Created over 253,000 jobs
🚀 Transition to AGCOT
Due to SAGCOT’s success, the model is now scaling nationally under the Agricultural Growth Corridors of Tanzania (AGCOT) initiative. Officially launched in April 2025, AGCOT is Flagship No. 7 of Tanzania’s Agriculture Master Plan 2050.
📍 AGCOT: What’s Next
- Expansion to Mtwara, Central, and Northern corridors
- Continued leadership by the AGCOT Centre (formerly SAGCOT Centre)
- Goal: Achieve $100 billion agricultural GDP by 2050, increase exports, and double smallholder incomes
The SAGCOT Blueprint not only transformed southern Tanzania—it now powers a national movement through AGCOT to build an inclusive, climate-resilient, and prosperous agricultural economy.