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Behind Every Product: Celebrating URT’s Farmers and Producers

Nane Nane Day

In celebration of Nane Nane Day, two Tanzanian enterprises supported by the EU-EAC MARKUP II Programme demonstrate how value addition, stronger quality systems, packaging support and access to market can create new opportunities for farmers, communities and young people.

Every year on 8 August, Tanzania celebrates Nane Nane Day - to recognise the farmers, agricultural workers and rural communities whose work sustains the country.

Established in 1977, the celebration promotes agriculture as a cornerstone of Tanzania’s development. It also provides an opportunity to advance agricultural education, strengthen communities and highlight the contribution of farming to maendeleo ya kiuchumi—economic development.

Agriculture remains central to Tanzania’s economy, contributing approximately 26.2% of gross domestic product and 65.5% of employment, according to the East African Community’s Tanzania Agriculture Sector Profile.

For Tanzanian enterprises AIS Solutions and Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited, Nane Nane is more than a national celebration. It is an opportunity to recognise the farmers and communities behind their products—and to reflect on how stronger agricultural value chains can translate their work into better incomes, sustainable employment and access to new markets.

Creating Value From Every Avocado

Adelaide Mwasyoghe, founder, AIS Solutions

Picture credit: Adolf Sakawa

AIS Solutions works with avocado farmers in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands, transforming avocados that do not meet fresh-export specifications into virgin avocado oil.

Instead of allowing imperfect or surplus fruit to go to waste, the company converts it into a premium, value-added product. This creates an additional market for farmers while demonstrating how agricultural processing can reduce losses and increase the value retained within Tanzania.

"Every bottle of avocado oil we produce starts with the hard work of Tanzanian farmers," explains Adelaide Mwasyoghe, the entrepreneur behind AIS Solutions.

For the AIS Solutions team, this year’s Nane Nane celebration reflects the progress made through years of persistence. The company has continued developing avocado-based products while building relationships with buyers in East Africa and international markets, including Kenya, Europe and China.

Buyer interest has been driven not only by the quality of the company’s virgin avocado oil, but also by its sustainability proposition: converting fruit that cannot be sold on the fresh market into a commercially valuable product.

From Local Innovation to International Markets

Through MARKUP II support, AIS Solutions participated in Food Ingredients Europe in Paris, where it presented its products to international buyers.

The experience marked an important turning point for the company. Direct conversations with buyers helped the team better understand international expectations relating to quality, product documentation, traceability and consistency of supply.

AIS Solutions

Picture credit: Yaseen Milondomo

Since participating, AIS Solutions has adopted a more export-oriented approach to its daily operations. The company now places greater emphasis on product testing, quality management, traceability and preparing its systems to handle larger orders.

The exposure also strengthened the company’s confidence in the potential of Tanzanian avocado oil.

"We are seeing the impact of years of persistence," AIS Solutions notes. "It motivates us to keep building a business that creates income for farmers, employment for young people and high-quality Tanzanian products that can compete globally."

Every Product Represents a Community

For Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited, founded by Reginald Saria, Nane Nane is a celebration of the many people involved in bringing agriproducts from rural communities to consumers.

Supported through MARKUP II’s technical training and network of quality champions. It has also strengthened its food-safety and quality systems, improved its packaging and expanded engagement with local, regional and international buyers.

Reginald Saria, founder, Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited

Photo credit: Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited

Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited views this progress not simply as a company achievement, but as the result of partnerships with the communities and producers that make its work possible.

Nane Nane therefore provides a moment to recognise this collective effort while renewing the company’s commitment to creating reliable markets and sustainable livelihood opportunities for Tanzanian agriproducers, particularly women and young people.

Strengthening the Entire Value Chain

Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited, founded by Reginald Saria

Photo credit: Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited

Through MARKUP II workshops Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited has strengthened how it manages sourcing, quality control, packaging, marketing and buyer engagement.

Rather than treating these functions as separate activities, the company now manages them as interconnected parts of a professional agricultural value chain.

Its work with communities increasingly emphasises traceability, cleanliness, moisture control, appropriate handling and consistency. The company has also improved its inspection processes, record-keeping, batch management and preparation for formal and export-oriented markets.

Packaging has become an important part of its market strategy. Improvements have included clearer labels, more consistent presentation and packaging sizes tailored to retail, hospitality, institutional and bulk buyers.

"Packaging is not simply a container," the company explains. "It communicates quality, builds consumer confidence, protects the product and helps a business compete in higher-value markets."

Building Export Readiness One Step at a Time

The experiences of AIS Solutions and Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited demonstrate that exporting is not defined by one trade fair, one buyer meeting or one shipment. It is a gradual process of strengthening products, systems and relationships.

Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited encourages other agricultural SMEs to begin by understanding their production capacity, pricing, documentation, packaging and target markets. Businesses must be able to deliver the same quality consistently—not only when preparing a sample, but throughout every order.

SMEs can start with one target market, learn its requirements, engage potential buyers and use feedback to improve their products and operations. Participation in workshops, trade fairs and programmes such as MARKUP II can provide the technical knowledge, market intelligence, mentorship and networks needed to support that journey.

"Every workshop attended, standard achieved, buyer conversation held and process improved brings the business one step closer to becoming export-ready," Reginald Saria explains.

Celebrating Agriculture, Enterprise and Opportunity

This Nane Nane Day, the journeys of AIS Solutions and Asilia Products and Equipment Supplies Limited show what is possible when agricultural production is connected to innovation, value addition and stronger markets.

Their stories also reinforce the wider purpose of Nane Nane: celebrating those who produce Tanzania’s food and agricultural products while investing in the knowledge, systems and partnerships required to build a more competitive, inclusive and sustainable agricultural economy.