Masters Thesis
Despite the high livestock population (dominated by cattle) the contribution of subsector
to the Tanzanian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is very low. The low contribution of the
livestock sector to the country’s GDP can possibly be linked to poor market performance.
This study is therefore an attempt to examine the indigenous beef cattle market
performance in selected villages in Simiyu and Dodoma regions in order to find out what
could be done to improve beef cattle market performance. The study used cross sectional
design. Data were collected from 192 indigenous beef cattle actors (beef cattle keepers,
traders and butcheries) through semi-structured questionnaires and checklist. The data
collected were summarized using Stata and Microsoft Excel. Moreover, the study adopted
Structure- Conduct- Performance (S-C-P) model to analyze the performance of indigenous
beef cattle market in the study area. The study employed gross margin analysis to measure
profitability of value market actors. Furthermore, the multiple linear regression analysis
were used to determine the factors affecting gross margin of beef cattle keepers. The
results show that traders involved in beef cattle fattening generates the highest gross
margin (54.05%) followed by the vertically integrated-butcheries (46.21%) and beef cattle
keepers generated the lowest gross margin (13.66%). Further, the study findings show that
herd size and herding costs had statistically significant (p < 0.01) influence on gross
margin. In conclusion, the indigenous beef cattle market in the study area performed
poorly due to inadequate extension services, difficulties in securing credit/loans, high
marketing costs and information asymmetry. To improve the market performance and
indigenous beef cattle subsector, it is recommended that extension workers have to
organise farmers into formal groups and trains them on the use of the beef cattle fattening
technique and beef quality control measures. The department of livestock development in
the districts; it is recommended to make market information available, enable actors to
secure credits/loans, reduction of market charges and tax so that to reduce costs.
indigenous cattle beef production