This study therefore focuses on assessing the export potential for four major categories of horticultural crops namely fresh vegetables, flowers, fruits and spices. The main objective is to present a synopsis of the status of the export sub-sector of horticulture products (performance), and investigate on the determinants of horticulture exports in Tanzania in the perspective of policy and institutional frameworks. There has been a notable achievement in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions horticulture industry in terms of enabling small scale producers to access markets for horticulture products; agricultural inputs; storage facilities and extension services. A few private organizations such as York Limited and especially Home Veg based in Arusha have introduced a Marketing or Business Model which performs relatively well in the two regions. This is known as contract farming arrangement. The key determinants of horticulture exports are required to meet the Global Gap Certificate, TBS certification and Barcode, Adequate cold rooms, Quality packaging materials and Exports Transport and Logistics. The findings show that there is a slight improvement of horticulture exports from 500 in 2010 to 900 tonnes in 2011 which provides a glimpse of hope that the sector’s performance is showing signs of improvement. Horticulture products have the potential for a strong industry in Tanzania, but the industry has been given less attention, which is surprising given the existing potential in production as well as the growing world market demands.
