The impact of African growth and opportunity ACT(AGOA) on agricultural exports from Tanzania to the United States

The African Growth and Opportunity ACT (AGOA) is a nonreciprocal trade preference programme that provides duty-free access to U.S product imports of certain products from eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. It was signed into law in 2000, with objectives of increasing trade and investment between the two regions. The objectives of this study was to assess the impact of AGOA on agricultural products from Tanzania to the U.S. as about 80% of the Tanzanians depends on agriculture sector for a living. The study was conducted using mixed methodologies approach, it used both quantitative and qualitative means of data collection. It involved mainly the use of secondary data, which was collected from different reports, journals and survey. Simple Regression analysis and comparison of means test were used to find if there was relationship between Total exports, AGOA exports and Agriculture exports to the U.S. The findings revealed that there has been an increase in total exports to the U.S since AGOA inception, but these gains had small and insignificant influence on agricultural exports. From the findings of the study, it may be concluded that, if there will be a renewal of AGOA beyond 2015, then it should be more comprehensive, accessible and a permanent framework focusing on areas of economy with greater prospects for growth. This will involve elimination of demand and supply side constraints such as SPS, weak distribution networks, communication infrastructure, access to funds and capacity building on SMEs side.