Abstract:
Pearl millet is among the crops which are performing well in Central and Lake Zone of Tanzania and due to its adaptation to semi-arid climate. The crop has a very high potential for improving livelihoods of farmers residing in those areas. Unfortunately, farmers are not getting maximum benefits from the crop due to some limiting factors. One of the key factors is low demand for the crop within and outside the semi-arid areas. Small quantity of pearl millet traded is an indication of low crop demand. The present study aims at finding out what could be done to increase demand for pearl millet by looking at the factors that influence demand. This study was carried out in Singida Rural and Kishapu districts in Tanzania. Purposive sampling was used to select villages and simple random sampling was used to select farmers, consumers, traders and processors. Data were collected from 385 respondents as follows: 180 farmers, 85 consumers, 76 traders and 44 processors. Both descriptive and quantitative analytical tools were used to analyze the data. Multiple regression model was used to determine the factors influencing pearl millet consumption. The findings show that, education level of the household head, age of the household head, occupation, pearl millet price and household food priority are the main factors that influence pearl millet consumption. Since the consumption of pearl millet is important for a better livelihood of the farmers in semi-arid areas and since the existing demand does not foster their livelihood, then promotion and awareness rousing the importance of pearl millet as food and feed from the farmers is needed to increase demand. Moreover, policies to improve consumption of pearl millet should be developed by the government to recognize pearl millet as a viable crop alternative.
