Beef cattle marketing in Baringo District, Kenya
Abstract
The study aims at determining the factors that influence competition and pricing
efficiency in the Baringo beef marketing system.
It starts by describing the marketing system in the district and then goes on to show the
prevailing movement patterns of cattle within and out of the district.
The extent of pricing efficiency is then analyzed by looking at the returns to
capital based on gross margins. The results of the analysis show that the major form of
organized marketing of livestock in Baringo district is through auctions. It also shows
that most of the auctions in the district have a relatively high buyer concentration and
therefore low competition.
It was also observed that the major barrier to entry is the high capital requirement
for aspiring cattle traders. Both horizontal and vertical .integration was evident in the
system as well as high returns to capital to both integrated and non-integrated traders.
There was evidence of low efficiency in the Baringo beef cattle markets. The
aspects of inefficiency identified were the existence of high returns to capital in virtually
all the channels except that of Mogotio group of auctions for cattle that are retail sold to
Nakuru.
Citation
MSc.Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi Department of Agricultural Economics