Martin, R.Hansen, E.F.Mhando, D.G.2026-07-132026-07-132022https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7782Proceedings, pp. 422-438Although governance structure of the value chain influences the incomes of chain actors, it has received limited attention in domestic value chains literature. To bridge the gap, this paper is set to analyse the governance structure of non-industrial timber in Njombe district in Tanzania. Non-industrial private forestry (NIPF) is the main livelihood activity among smallholders in Njombe district and a heart of district’s revenue. The research adopted an exploratory cross-sectional study design where purposive and snowball sampling was used to obtain respondents. Data were collected through observation, semistructured in-depth interviews with key informants and the respondents. Analysis was done using deductive thematic analysis. Study findings show that value chain actors of non-industrial timber use both vertical and horizontal governance structures. While smallholders earn more income when a combination of structures is used, modular governance gives more returns when one structure is used. Market uncertainty, incentive to spread risk, institutional environment, trust and financial capability of both the buyers and suppliers determine the governance patterns. In addition, findings show that even though a centralized or global governance structure is absent, informal quality standards are emerging and have far-reaching implication to the incomes of chain actors. The paper concludes that both vertical and horizontal governance structures play an important role of linking value chain actors to markets. Therefore, efforts to improve smallholders’ income should be geared toward improving both vertical and horizontal structures because they play a complementary role.enNon-industrial timberValue chainsGovernanceTanzaniaOther