Kilwa Cassava Mega-Project to Create 100,000 Jobs and Transform Tanzania’s Agro-Industrial Economy

Tanzania is making one of its boldest attempts yet to shift agriculture from subsistence to industrial scale after allocating 62,000 hectares in Kilwa District to Pan Tanzania Agriculture Development for a cassava megaproject that government officials say could create more than 100,000 jobs. The move signals a strategic pivot toward crop-based industrialisation at a time when the country is looking to diversify exports, attract long-term capital and stabilise rural incomes.

Announced just a day after the government unveiled eight new investment priorities, the project reflects a broader ambition: to build an agro-industrial economy capable of competing in regional and global value chains. But its success will depend on execution, infrastructure and sustained capital inflows, areas where Tanzania has historically struggled.

A Mega Plantation in a Region Seeking Economic Identity

Kilwa, in the southern Lindi Region, has long been marked by underinvestment despite abundant land. The 62,000-hectare allocation is one of the largest contiguous agricultural concessions issued in Tanzania in years. For context, it is nearly the size of the entire city of Dar es Salaam.

The project’s scale is intentional. Cassava remains one of the world’s fastest-growing industrial crops, with demand rising in food processing, pharmaceuticals, ethanol production and textiles. Tanzania produces cassava in large quantities, but almost all of it is consumed raw or sold unprocessed, leaving the country outside high-value markets that reward consistency and industrial-grade starch.

If Pan Tanzania Agriculture Development establishes full production and processing capacity, Kilwa could become one of East Africa’s largest hubs for industrial cassava flour and starch exports.

Job Creation: Ambitious, but Not Unsupported by the Numbers

The government projects the creation of more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. While the number appears high, it becomes more plausible when broken down across the entire value chain.

Large-scale cassava farming is labour-intensive at the planting and harvesting stages, even with partial mechanisation. Processing plants, especially those producing industrial starch, require skilled technicians, machine operators, engineers and packaging staff. Transport, input distribution, warehousing, logistics and service businesses could add tens of thousands of indirect jobs as the local economy responds to new demand.

The more important macro signal is not the jobs themselves but the shift toward labour-absorbing industrial agriculture, a model that Tanzania has repeatedly tried but rarely scaled.

Export Potential Is Real, but Profitability Depends on Processing

Industrial cassava flour and high-grade starch fetch significantly higher prices than raw tubers. A fully operational plant processing 80,000 to 120,000 tonnes of product annually could generate between USD 80 million and USD 150 million in export earnings, enough to place cassava among Tanzania’s top non-traditional exports.

But this hinges on:

• reliable yields
• consistent root quality
• modern processing
• compliance with export standards
• efficient transport to ports

The economics are most favourable when value addition is maximised. Raw cassava chips earn less than USD 100 per tonne; industrial starch can fetch six to nine times more. Tanzania’s bet is on capturing the higher-value end of the spectrum, a segment dominated by Asia but increasingly attractive to Africa due to global supply diversification.

Capital Requirements: A USD 640 Million Test of Investor Appetite

The government estimates investor capital inflows of up to USD 640 million, a figure that reflects the cost of plantations, factories, storage, utilities, roads and logistics networks. At that size, Kilwa’s cassava project becomes less a farm and more a fully integrated agro-industrial zone.

Such investments require:

• deep pockets
• patient capital
• access to foreign exchange
• long-term operational certainty

Historically, large-scale agriculture in Africa has been littered with failed mega-projects that overestimated yields and underestimated logistics. Tanzania’s attempt to break this pattern will depend heavily on private-sector discipline, government facilitation and realistic phasing of the project.

Technology Transfer: A Test of Tanzania’s Vision 2050

The project is expected to train more than 10,000 smallholder farmers in improved cassava production, a critical element for long-term sustainability. Cassava yields in Tanzania remain low compared to global benchmarks. Better seed systems, disease-resistant varieties and technical training could lift productivity significantly if integrated into the outgrower scheme.

But technology transfer is historically one of the weakest links in African agriculture. Without real extension services and commercially aligned outgrower contracts, the expected productivity gains may not materialise.

Kilwa’s Potential as an Agro-Industrial Corridor

If the project scales as planned, its impact will extend beyond cassava.

Ripple effects include:

• increased demand for transport, fuel, storage and logistics
• new trading and financial services in Lindi Region
• potential emergence of industrial starch-based manufacturing
• strengthening of ports in Lindi and Mtwara
• expansion of power and water infrastructure driven by factory needs

Kilwa could transition from a low-income coastal district into a high-activity node in Tanzania’s southern economic corridor, a structural shift with national implications.

Risks: The Difference Between Promise and Delivery

Several constraints could derail the project:

1. Infrastructure gaps

Power stability, road conditions and port logistics could delay processing and inflate costs.

2. FX exposure

With heavy machinery imported, a volatile shilling increases capital costs.

3. Social and land considerations

Large plantations often trigger disputes if benefit-sharing and community engagement are inadequate.

4. Yield variability

Cassava mosaic disease, brown streak virus and unpredictable rains can reduce output significantly.

5. Execution risk

Most mega-agriculture projects fail not because of weak markets, but because of poor operational sequencing and cash flow mismanagement.

The Broader Picture: A High-Stakes Industrialisation Experiment

The Kilwa cassava project represents a structural shift in Tanzania’s development strategy: from exporting raw commodities to building processing ecosystems.

If it succeeds, it could:

• diversify exports
• create a major agro-processing hub
• enhance food and industrial supply security
• raise rural incomes
• validate the government’s new investment strategies

If it falters, it becomes another costly reminder of the gap between ambition and execution in African mega-agriculture.

Bottom Line

Kilwa is Tanzania’s most ambitious agro-industrial experiment in years. Its economic potential is undeniable, but it lies entirely in the sophistication of the execution. For investors, the project signals a government willing to unlock large land parcels, support industrial agriculture and prioritise value addition. For Tanzania, it is a test of whether the country can move from farming to agro-industry with the discipline, capital and logistics required at scale.