The Cereals and Other Produce Board was formed following the liberalisation policy and reforms in the agricultural sector, which completely liberalised the marketing aspects of both domestic and external markets in 1984 and 1989 respectively. This led to the collapse of the General Agricultural Products and Exports Board (GAPEX) and the National Milling Corporation Ltd (NMC) whose functions were mainly purchasing, milling and exportation of cereals and other produce.
The collapse of GAPEX and NMC created a vacuum with regard to fulfilling commercial and regulatory functions, thus affecting the production, processing and marketing of cereals and oil seeds. In addition, few private traders proceeded to dominate the market hence affecting farmers' prices. In order to rectify the undesirable situation, the Government decided to establish the Cereals and Other Produce Board of Tanzania (CPB) to undertake commercial and promotional functions in cereals and other produce.
