Characterization of Smallholders' Livestock Production and Marketing Strategies in Semi-Arid Areas of Tanzania

Abstract

High rainfall variability in semi-arid Tanzania makes livestock production a risky enterprise and its marketing decisions highly stochastic. This paper discusses smallholders' production and marketing strategies in the Dodoma region based on responses from 498 farmers randomly selected from four purposely sampled villages in the semi-arid ecological zone of Tanzania. Qualitative characterization of marketing and production decisions is presented. Generally the timing, frequency and amount of rainfall do to a great extent determine farmers' production and marketing strategies. Results of the quantitative analysis, however, revealed that most strategies were correlated with low productivity and profitability levels and with high environmental degradation. The findings suggest that a gradual change in production and marketing strategies is necessary to increase efficiency in this agroecological zone.

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