Master thesis by Betty Amos Begashe
Commercialization of the rural agribusiness sector is critical for addressing rural poverty and creating jobs. Tanzania sunflower subsector provides edible oils, industrial raw materials, animal feeds, employment and livelihoods to rural households. The production and productivity of sunflower have remained low despite its importance, especially in semi-arid areas. Commercialization of smallholder sunflower sector is seen as a requisite for farm-level investments needed to upgrade productivity. This study assessed the potentials and constraints for commercialization of smallholder sunflower production in Idifu village in Chamwino District, Dodoma region of Central Tanzania. A household survey involving 70 randomly selected smallholder farmers from Idifu village was conducted between 20th August and 30th November, 2016. Factors including financial services, physical infrastructure, land availability, social demography were evaluated to characterize the potential and limitations regarding sunflower production and commercialization in the study area. Study findings reveal that majority (100%), of the respondents own land financial services are available and accessible to 65% of the respondents in the study area Also, labour availability, and family support were positively evaluated by 61% and 98% of the respondents respectively. However, unsatisfactory participation in farmers’ groups (66%), frequent droughts (94%), land degradation (84%), and limited agricultural education (65%) were found to be serious limitations to sunflower production in the study area. Also, productivity and Gross margins suggest that, sunflower production can be undertaken profitably and efficiently when the size of farm holding is below median (0.8) ha. Despite these shortfalls, the study area exhibits medium potential for commercialization of sunflower production since the mentioned limitations can be ameliorated through education, improving infrastructure and sensitization over such issues such as good agricultural practices and marketing.
