Economics of on-farm maize storage in Tanzania: the case of Kilosa District
Abstract
This study describes the technological and
economic aspects of traditional and improved farm
level storage of maize in Kilosa district of rural
Tanzania. A brief review of the maize industry in
the country is provided. storage patterns in two
survey villages using two different kinds of
traditional storage structures are examined followed
by a temporal price analysis of the parallel
An economic and financial appraisal of farm
improvements is presented. Primary data
market.
storage
from the
survey villages and secondary data from the Ministry
of Agriculture and Livestock Development are the
basis for the analysis. The study reveals that
farmers store grain mainly for home consumption with
the surplus used for sale, seed and other socioeconomic
. obligations. The temporal price analysis
shows that parallel market price increases over time
resulting from grain supply fluctuations are in
excess of storage costs. This provides an
opportunity for stores to make profits. It is
further noted that farmers are aware of rodent and
'insect pest losses incured in their traditional
granaries. Proposed farm level storage inprovements
aimed at reducing these losses were found to be
profitable in terms of parallel market prices.
Benefit-cost ratios (BCR) ranging between 1:1 and 4:1
and
internal rates of return (IRR) well above the
cut-off rate of 18 percent were estimated. To ensure
a stable food supply and restrained prices it is
recommended that official prices should be made to
vary over time to reflect storage costs. The cost effective
improvements proposed in this text may
further contribute to the realization of these
objectives. To be more effective it is suggested in
this study that future on-farm storage improvement
programs prefer the multidisciplinary systems
approach over the specialists symptomatic approach.
Citation
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirement of the Degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Economics in the University of Nairobi, Nairobi. KenyaPublisher
Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi