In November, farmers in the African country complained that private sector offers for their nut crops were too low. In response, the government opted to buy up the harvest from farmers.

However, trade and industry minister Joseph Kakunda has now said the government does not have the capacity to process the entire crop and, according to local media, plans to sell off 200,000 tonnes of nuts, worth about $308m.

Kakunda has not specified a price for the nuts but added that the government would invest any money raised into processing for next season.

At the time of the initial purchase last November, the government insisted the army, the country’s agricultural development bank and relevant agencies would handle the processing.

The majority of Tanzania’s nuts are normally exported for processing in India and Vietnam before being re-exported to Europe and the US.