PROPOSED SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL GROWTH CORRIDOR OF TANZANIA
(SAGCOT) INVESTMENT PROJECT
PUBLIC NOTICE

RE-DISCLOSURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT

FRAMEWORK (ESMF)

INTRODUCTION
The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) initiative is an
international public private partnership launched at the World Economic Forum on Africa
in May 2010 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and in Davos Switzerland in January 2011 as
a means to implement Tanzania’s transformational agriculture vision, the Kilimo
Kwanza. Its mandate is to mobilize private sector agribusiness investments, and, linked
closely with public sector commitments, to achieve rapid and sustainable agriculture
growth in southern corridor of Tanzania. SAGCOT is led by Kilimo Kwanza Executive
Committee and represents a new, long term commitment from many different
organizations to work in partnership and create critical mass of successful and
sustainable agriculture development in Tanzania. It is the first of a sequence of phased
initiatives to develop Agricultural Growth Corridors in Tanzania.

The SAGCOT initiative is explicitly designed to achieve higher rates of income growth,
job creation and poverty reduction through the development of competitive agribusiness
value chains across the Southern Corridor. The programme will concentrate
investments within the rail and road corridor stretching from Dar es Salaam in the east
through to Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya, and west to Sumbawanga. Over the next 20 years,
SAGCOT aims to bring 350,000 hectares of farmland into commercial production for
national, regional and international markets to increase annual farming revenues by
US$1.2 billion, and lift more than 2 million people (roughly 450,000 farm households)
out of poverty.
Preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for the
proposed SAGCOT Investment Project funded by the World Bank was completed under
a consultancy for the Government of Tanzania (GoT) by Environmental Resources
Management (ERM) Limited in July 2012 and disclosed on 26th August 2012. The
ESMF was developed in tandem with a Strategic Regional Environmental and Social
Assessment (SRESA) and Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) by the same
Consultant as one of a set of due diligence instruments required to address and
manage environmental and social impacts associated with the proposed SAGCOT
Investment Project development activities. Following recent changes in project design
made during the pre-appraisal mission of the proposed SAGCOT Investment Project,
the ESMF has been revised to reflect certain operational aspects in the application of
the document. The changes have necessitated re-disclosure of the revised ESMF
document to inform the broader public of the same.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ESMF
The objective of the ESMF is to outline the mandatory procedures to be applied to the
World Bank-financed SAGCOT Project investments to ensure the effective
management of associated environmental and social issues. It seeks to both enhance
environmental and social development benefits of the project and mitigate any adverse
impacts, in line with GOT and World Bank policies and guidelines on management of
environmental and social issues. Since the precise locations and potential impacts of
future subprojects are not known, and cannot be identified prior to appraisal, the ESMF
provides the basis for the environmental and social preparation needed for the
subproject investments to be supported under Component 2. Most of the investments
that are being financed by the World Bank are expected to have moderate
environmental and social impacts, but some of the investments may have significant
impacts and thus the project is Category A for Environmental Assessment.

PROPOSED SAGCOT INVESTMENT PROJECT KEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND
SOCIAL ISSUES
The ESMF has taken into consideration the existing situation on Land Tenure and
Administration, Water Resources - availability and use, Environment, Wildlife and
Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Infrastructure (Ports, Roads, Rail, Air Transport, and
Power), Agriculture, and Pastoralism. On the socio-economic context the ESMF has
included aspects of Population, Ethnicity and Livelihood Capital (human, social, natural,
physical and financial capital).
Governance will be a major aspect of the proposed SAGCOT Investment Project's
success. Two issues stand out: (i) the effectiveness of the existing systems of
government administration at all levels, and (ii) the transparency of decisions on land,
resource use and other topics of vital interest to rural communities and land users.
Perceptions of the transparency of decisions concerning land and land use are possibly
even more important than the weaknesses in the administrative system as a factor
affecting success of the programme.
The sustainability of the proposed SAGCOT Investment Project will rely heavily on
turning it from a perceived threat to residents' interests to a process with tangible,
monitorable benefits. This will require major improvements in the transparency of the
land allocation process, active support for communities when negotiating with possible
investors, and a clear process for acquisition of land and water rights that not only
provides immediate benefits to local communities but also guarantees future benefit
flows from the investment.
The proposed SAGCOT Investment Project integrates sustainability factors across its
planning and implementation focusing on six pillars (i) balancing agricultural production
and expansion with wise water use, (ii) developing land use and land capability across
the Corridor with attention to continued ecosystem services, (iii) maintaining and
enhancing the important protected areas in the region, (iv) improving soil and water
management, (v) incorporating low-greenhouse-gas emission investments and other
climate mitigation and adaptation management options whenever possible, and (vi)
ensuring investments are undertaken in a manner that minimizes environmental impacts
through the application of several environmental assessment tools.

LAND ADMINISTRATION
The principle laws governing land tenure and administration in Tanzania are the Land
Act (No. 4), 1999 and the Village Land Act (no. 5), 1999. The Land Act confirms the
National Land Policy directive that all land in Tanzania is public land vested in the
President as trustee on behalf of all citizens. The Land Act is intended to give legislative
backing to the fundamentals of the National Land Policy, by classifying and defining
tenure rights over land, land administration procedures, rights and incidents of land
occupation, granted rights of occupancy, conversion of interests in land, dispositions
affecting land, land leases, mortgaging of land, easements and analogous rights, cooccupation
and partitioning and settlement of land disputes.

APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT
The ESMF will apply to all proposed SAGCOT Investment Project supported
investments under the Catalytic Fund and the RPF will establish the resettlement
objectives and principles, organizational arrangements and funding mechanisms for any
resettlement operation as part of direct World Bank financing. The extent and location of
resettlement will only be identified when sub-projects are being assessed.

The SAGCOT’s ESMF document can be accessed at www.pmo.go.tz, www.kilimo.go.tz,
and www.sagcot.com.
The Permanent Secretary
Prime Minister’s Office
Dar Es Salaam