Goals
The main goals of the TVSP were to:
- Study the Tanzanian vegetable seed market
- Select, improve and introduce new vegetable varieties
- See how farmers respond to these varieties and new technologies

The programme was based on a similar project that had been successfully implemented by East-West Seed Company with vegetables in Tropical Asia. Market-oriented variety improvement accompanied by technological support for farmers had structurally boosted farmers’ earnings.
Since the improved varieties and modern production techniques helped to secure production, farmers were willing to invest in new technologies and hybrid seeds, thus resulting in higher incomes.

The TVSP programme was run by three partners, all private-sector seed companies:
- Rijk Zwaan of The Netherlands
- East-West Seed Company of Thailand
- Multiflower Ltd., a seed company located in Arusha, Tanzania

Improved varieties
In the three years that the TVSP project ran, around 400 varieties from all over the world were tested for acceptance by both farmers and the market. Of these 400, 20 were actually introduced onto the market and ten were selected for local seed production. Some of the selected varieties were local vegetables. Only varieties that performed better than existing ones were launched onto the market.

New varieties created
Examples of newly introduced OP varieties from East-West Seed Company included the Chike carrot, Rapido lettuce and Jhelum beetroot.
Examples of newly introduced hybrid varieties from East-West Seed Company included the Lara F1 okra, Kartik F1 tomato and Sonia F1 pumpkin.

Improvement of local varieties
The improvement of local varieties of African eggplant, tomato and Chinense pepper through breeding started under the TVSP project and is presently being continued by Afrisem.

Technological support for farmers
Technological support for farmers was an important element of the TVSP project. Support was provided in collaboration with AVRDC, ICIPE, FarmAfrica, the Dutch Embassy, DaiPesa, various farmer groups and government technicians.
Major new technologies that were introduced include:
- raised beds
- furrow irrigation
- improved fertilizer
- seedling raising

More than 1000 farmers received training and support during the course of the project.

Success factors
Key factors for success included:
- farmer selection, since not all farmers were ready to adopt new techniques and/or willing to try
- choosing the right varieties for both farmers and the market
- guaranteed quality of seeds,
- clear, hands-on guidance in farmers' fields

In general, success was easier to achieve when working with individual farmers than with farmers’ groups.

Limiting factors
Limiting factors included:
- farmers were generally not market-oriented
- potential areas were spread all over the country
- poor infrastructure, such as poor road network and lack of irrigation water
- lack of commercial awareness, both in terms of selling the harvested products and purchasing required inputs
- farmers and extension workers were not familiar with modern/improved vegetable cultivation techniques

All in all, we gained valuable experience from the TVSP project – experience which is helping us to continue to improve our work in this field.