In Tanzania, the fertilizer Act No. 9 of 
2009 establishes the Tanzania Fertilizer 
Regulatory Authority  as a body mandated  
to enforce laws/policies/regulations 
governing  the  manufacturing,  
importation  and  use  of and  trade  in  
fertilizers, or  fertilizer supplements, e.g. 
growth stimulators and regulators and 
similar products. 
The Act also provides for fertilizer quality 
control and  requires fertilizer dealers to 
ensure that fertilizer or fertilizer 
supplements  are packed and labeled in 
the manner prescribed in the regulations. 
It prohibits the sale or distribution  of 
adulterated or substandard  fertilizer or 
fertilizer supplements. Under this act, 
fertilizer regulations were established. 
In 2012 the Tanzanian Fertilizer 
Regulatory Authority (TFRA) with the 
facilitation from COMPRO II project 
examined the existing policy and 
regulatory environment for bio fertilizers 
in Tanzania. Several gaps and challenges 
affecting the implementation of Fertilizer 
Regulations of 2012 were identified and 
action strategies were proposed. 
Issue No. 3 December 2014
Policy Brief
Effective Regulation of bio-fertilizers in Tanzania
Investing in Functional Institutional Frameworks 
 
Source: TFRA  (2011)  
Setting the stage
The main Challenges 
 Limited  human resource capacity at the  Tanzania  Fertilizer  
 Regulatory Authority  (TFRA).
 Lenient penalties on bio-fertilizer dealers who violate the law
 High field validation costs. 
 Inadequately manned porous borders which allow infiltration of 
 substandard and unregistered bio-fertilizer products into Tanzanian 
 market.
 Over-lapping mandates among agencies (TFRI, TAEC  TBS) and 
 
chief chemist creates confusion and jeopardizes effective 
 
enforcement of bio-fertilizer laws. 
 Lack of Bio-fertilizer Standards to prescribe handling, storage, 
 minimum required quantities of active ingredients, directions for use 
 and packaging.
 Lack of accredited  microbiological laboratories for testing 
 bio-fertilizer products in the Tanzanian market.
Authors:  Tarus D ( AATF)1, Ikerra S. (TFRA)2 Masso C (IITA)3, Watiti J (CABI)4,  F. Nang’ayo
 currently covers Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in East Africa Ghana and Nigeria in West 
Africa). Objective 3 of the project aims to institutionalize  and  strengthen  regulatory environments  for 
Foundation. 
1. African Agricultural Technology Foundation, is the lead agency in charge of regulatory strengthening activities in the COMPROII project.
2. Tanzania Fertilizer Regulatory Authority, is Tanzania's lead institution mandated with regulating the fertilizer sector in Tanzania.
4. CAB International, is the lead institution in  communication and information sharing on  the COMPROII project.
Way Forward 
 Conduct public awareness campaigns on the 
 implications of the new guidelines to ensure 
 that all actors, are aware  and are able to 
 participate in ensuring that only quality and 
 approved bio-fertilizer products are in the 
 market.
 Develop a concise policy for Bio-fertilizer, 
 bio-pesticides and agro-chemical inputs so as 
 to be able to accommodate current  
 development in the sector and promote  good 
 practices that  will boost agricultural 
 productivity. 
 Amend the fertilizer Act (2009) so that TFRA  
 has the power to enforce stringent penalties 
 where applicable, to ensure that only quality 
 bio-fertilizer products are in the market.
 Identify potential border points which act as 
 entry points for bio-fertilizers so as to 
 eliminate proliferation of unregistered poor 
 quality bio-fertilizers.  
Capacity Implications 
To achieve the above reforms:
 needs of TFRA, to allow for more inspectors 
 to man the additional border points and 
 increase market surveillance. 
 of laboratories to enable easier and faster 
 inspection and testing of samples of 
 bio-fertilizers to ensure  quality is maintained 
 in the market.
What is needed now
 Development of bio fertilizer registration 
 guidelines, and standard operating procedures 
 bio-fertilizers.
 Ensuring  provisions in the law to clarify 
 and distinguish roles among the four 
 national regulatory agencies in the regula
 tion of bio fertilizers in the Tanzanian market.
Current Efforts 
 In  2014, TFRA, spearheaded a process of 
 development and launch of national 
 Stipulate the processes involved in registering, 
 distributing, monitoring of a bio-fertilizer 
 products. 
 Spell out enforcement mechanisms including 
 agencies.
 Establishes quality requirements of 
 bio-fertilizer products that are allowable in 
 the Tanzanian market.    
3. International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is the lead institution that manages the COMPROII project.