Peasant grain storage and marketing in Tanzania :a case study of Maize in Sumbawanga District

dc.contributor.authorAshimogo, Gasper
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-17T09:34:29Z
dc.date.available2022-11-17T09:34:29Z
dc.date.issued1995
dc.description.abstractMaize is the major staple cereal grain in Tanzania and it plays an important role in the country's food security and income to smallholder farmers. In response to the crisis which has faced the agricultural sector since independence in 1961, reforms in grain marketing were instituted as part of broader macroeconomic changes beginning in 1984. These liberalisation policies also affected the smallholder farmers' grain storage and marketing patterns. The main objective of this research was to investigate peasants' patterns of maize storage and marketing and the consequent effects of these patterns on spatial and seasonal efficiency as well as food security and income distribution under the auspices of liberalisation. The study builds on the concepts of spatial and temporal efficiency as well as the agricultural household models and uses Sumbawanga, a maize surplus district, as a case study. Analyses are based on questionnaire surveys conducted among 120 farmers and 14 traders, weekly price data from four villages and the main Sumbawanga town market, and monthly loss assessments of grain stored by 20 farmers in the 1992/93 marketing season. The study reveals that maize production and storage are mainly undertaken to meet household consumption and cash needs. Quantity of maize harvested and household size are the main factors which influence the allocation of maize between sales and consumption. Due to lack of storage facilities for large-scale farmers, unreliable market outlets, and liquidity constraints maize sales are concentrated in the low-price harvest period. Traders play a minimal role in grain storage due to a lack of capital. The market efficiency analysis revealed three main aspects: (1) Rural markets in Sumbawanga district are well integrated into the Sumbawanga town market. However, the degree of integration differs between villages mainly due to differences in accessibility and distance from the central markets. (2) Although spatial price differences are largely a function of the transfer costs there is little possibility for profit maximisation from maize trade within the district. (3) The temporal price efficiency is generally low and is lower at nominal interest rates of below 50 %.Consequent of the existing storage and marketing patterns one third of the sample farmers did not have enough consumption maize to last until the next harvest. These were forced to buy from the market during the high-price preĀ­ harvest season. Policy interventions to increase maize production could assist in reducing poverty and food insecurity in the districen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe German academic exchange serviceen_US
dc.identifier.isbn3 - 89574 -069-1
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/4797
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAu fl. - Berlinen_US
dc.subjectMaizeen_US
dc.subjectPolicyen_US
dc.subjectPrice policyen_US
dc.subjectSmall farmsen_US
dc.subjectTrade marketingen_US
dc.subjectFood securityen_US
dc.subjectSumbawangaen_US
dc.subjectTanzaniaen_US
dc.subjectMaize productionen_US
dc.titlePeasant grain storage and marketing in Tanzania :a case study of Maize in Sumbawanga Districten_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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