Cotton production in Tanzania has increased by 67 per cent this harvest season compared to the previous one. Care has been taken to regulate the quality of agricultural inputs. The plan is to create good environments that could increase farmers’ efficiency, productivity and eventually profit. Cotton is Tanzania’s largest export crop after coffee. It contributes 24 per cent to total agricultural exports and four per cent to total exports.

Simiyu, Shinyanga, Mwanza, and Singida regions have been cited as Tanzania’s cotton growing giants out of seven chief cotton producing Lake Zone regions. The area under cotton has seen an increase from 66 to 77 per cent depending on the region.

Cotton is one of Tanzania's key crops. Around 99 per cent of the country’s cotton is grown in the western region. Around two million of the country’s 42 million people depend on it for their livelihood. It provides around 13 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange – second only to coffee in agricultural exports. Through contract farming, cotton buyers agree to provide inputs, finance and advice on credit to primary producers of the product in return for having exclusive rights to purchase the crop at harvest time. Contract farming areas have already doubled the levels of pesticide distribution.