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Despite the critical role played by intermediaries in supply chain and trade, along with various initiatives undertaken to enhance this role, fruits and vegetable traders in Dar es Salaam-Tanzania are still discontented with the intermediaries’ inability to undertake supply chain roles. This paper examined the impediments to intermediaries’ role in urban Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (FFVs) supply chain and recommended strategies for improving the same.
Qualitative approach was adopted and data were drawn from a purposive sample of 92 respondents through interviews, focus group discussions and non-participant observation. Accordingly, intermediaries’ role in urban FFVs supply was impeded by poor transportation, inadequate storage facilities, and inability to improve quality and poor marketing services. The study recommends some ways to alleviate the impediments. These include ensuring suitable road infrastructures and fighting corruption among various revenue and traffic police officers; insuring fruits and vegetables during transportation; installation and maintenance of storage facilities and ensuring adequate power supply and modern storage technology. Farmers and intermediaries should be sensitized on utilisation of storage facilities. The inability to value addition should be alleviated through improvement of packaging materials, sensitization of farmers and intermediaries on value and quality addition, introducing reliable storage facilities as well as effective enforcement of quality assurance and standards mechanisms. To improve marketing services, access to farmers should be guaranteed, farmers and intermediaries be sensitized on urban markets as well as ensuring effective and smooth exchange of marketing information among stakeholders. Therefore, impediments to Intermediaries’ role in Urban FFV supply chain in Dar es Salaam can be overcome through improvement in transportation, storage, value addition and quality improvement as well as improving marketing services. |
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