The present study was conducted in the Lake Zone of Tanzania, with a sample size of 265 rice farmers has been selected. The objective was to find out the constraints faced by rice farmers to propose Government’s policies regulating to overcome the constraints of rice production promotion and marketing in Tanzania. The study found that the agro-ecological constraints faced by farmers, ranked from more to less serious, were related to production and marketing problems; the major production challenge was drought faced 89.81 % of rice farmers from attaining the high rice production potential in the Lake Zone, followed by pests 34.34 %, shortage of inputs 31.32 % and diseases were the other major challenge encountered by the 25.29 %. The major diseases were the Yellow Mottle Virus and rice blast. Further, it shows that the low price of rice was a major marketing challenge faced by 38.95 %, followed by price fluctuations of 17.90%, and improper measurement scale was observed to be a challenge faced by 14.90 % of rice farmers.
Production challenge
Marketing constraints include low price, price fluctuation, and unavailability of a large market facility, improper weigh scale, poor marketing system, and shortage of processing unit.
Tanzania has a total land area covering 94.5 million hectares, out of which 44 million hectares are suitable for agriculture. Moreover, it is estimated that a total land of 21 million hectares is suitable for rice production with abundant water resources, out of which 1.35 million hectares is under rice cultivation (URT, 2009; Minot 2010 and
Tanzania’s government invested in rice sub-sectors with the expected to increase rice production efficiency in order to become a large producer and exporter of rice in the region and Africa in general. Current statistics have attested that the country is among the leading Sub Saharan Africa countries in rice production (FEWSNET, 2016), while it ranks fourth in Africa in terms of rice production (
The multistage sampling technique was used to obtain the appropriate data (qualitative and quantitative) from the study areas. Different sampling techniques were used in different stages based on population characteristics. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of Lake Zone and two regions
Rice farmers in Lake Zone are facing a number of challenges that result in decreased rice production. These challenges differ from place to place, while others cut across the entire zone. The main challenges are drought, floods, pest (bird, weed, and worms), diseases (Yellow Mottle Virus and rice blast), lack of knowledge about a package of practices, lack of capital, shortage of inputs, high cost of inputs, lack of extension facilities and infertile lands. Drought is the greatest challenge in agricultural production and food security in Tanzania and Africa in general. Despite the presence of rivers and the biggest freshwater lake (Lake Victoria), only 5 % of cultivated land is under irrigation in Tanzania Drought was the major problem that restricted 89.81 % of rice farmers from attaining the high rice production potential. The problem was due to the dependence on unpredictable rainfall for irrigation. The selected zone had faced the severe drought problem,
Existing irrigation system in Lake Zone
RYMV disease in Isole village - Sengerema district
Pests (weeds, worms, and birds) were the second major challenge faced in rice production, as it affects 34.34 % of rice growers. The highest number of farmers affected by the pest attack was in Shinyanga rural (51.60%) followed by Misungwi (33.30 %), Kahama (29.90 %), and Sengerema (28.60 %). The pests attack varied significantly between different districts of Lake Zone. It was observed that the severity of pest attack depended upon the nature of the land, location of the fields, and weather condition of the place
Diseases were challenges encountered by the 25.29 % of rice growers. The major diseases of rice in the Lake Zone were Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) and rice blast. Majority of rice farmers, an average of 52.80 % in Sengerema district, faced diseases, followed by Misungwi (22.70 %) and Kahama district (14.90 %). The lowest problem of disease was observed in the Shinyanga rural district, where only 8 % of rice farmers faced this problem. The response to the disease was significantly different in four selected districts of the Lake Zone. Farmers were opting out from rice production and shifting to other crops like vegetables and chickpea because of RYMV severity; the incidence of RYMV and rice blast in Sengerema and Misungwi districts revealed the real situation of these diseases in the study area (
Most of the farmers were not very skillful in the uses of farm inputs, particularly newly introduced improved technologies; this lead to inefficient uses of inputs as 21.51 % of rice growers in the study area had lack of knowledge about the package of practices, similar constraint was also found by
Field affected by rice blast disease -Misungwi village
Production constrains faced rice growers (Multiple response = %)
Dissemination and training on improved agricultural technologies can be determined by the efficiency, effectiveness, and availability of agricultural extension facilities in the study area. About 9.06 % of rice farmers faced this problem which has a negative impact on the adoption of new technologies of rice production and ultimately resulting in lower rice production. Climate changes have reversed the pattern of rainfall, which caused some areas to be dry while others faced uncertain floods (
Marketing constraints faced by rice growers (multiple response = %)
Marketing agencies involved in Lake Zone
Agricultural marketing connotes the marketing of farm commodities and farm inputs required by farmers’ during the production process. Products and inputs prices are the main factors that determine farm adjustment and profit earned. The study discovered low price with price fluctuation, lack of large market, improper weigh scale, and low quality of rice, poor marketing system, and shortage of processing unit as the major market challenges which limit the proper market conduct study area. It can be observed that the low price of rice was a major market challenge faced by 38.95 % rice farmers though the worst affected were the farmers of Misungwi district (48.0 %) followed by Kahama district (40.60 %), Shinyanga rural (36.40), and lowest in Sengerema district (30.80 %). It can be concluded that the low price of rice is faced by the farmers across the entire study area. Price fluctuations were observed to be a second major marketing challenge for rice growers. About 17.90 percent rice farmers reported the problem of price fluctuations. The highest price fluctuation was observed in Kahama district (28.30 %), followed by Misungwi district (15.70 %), Sengerema (14.50 %), and the lowest price in Shinyanga rural (13.10 %). Price fluctuations significantly varied among different districts of Lake Zone. The price fluctuation is caused by lack of storage facilities and a lack of other sources of livelihoods.
The marketing process involves the creation of time, form, place, and possess utilities. Improper measurement scale was observed to be a challenge faced by 14.90 % of rice farmers. The problem of improper weigh scale was observed highest in Kahama district (23.60 %), followed by Sengerema (20.60 %), Misungwi (8.80 %), and the lowest problem observed in Shinyanga rural district (7.50%). Rice market dominated by middlemen who purchase rice by using large volume bucket instead of weighs scale thus purchasing large quantities of rice at a much lower price thereby causing losses to the farmers. Middlemen dominated (51.79 %) rice market and 21.90 % sold rice to processors and 26.40 % at a local market (
A poor marketing system causes an imbalance in the flow of rice, resulting in unbiased profit gain into the marketing channel. Poor marketing system as a challenge is faced by 9.43 % rice farmers in Lake Zone, improper management of agriculture make rice price to be determined through bargaining without full involvement government during price determination., The shortage of processing plants in the study area was observed by 3.00 % of rice growers. Value addition which comprises change of form utility, is an important component of the rice business for increased durability and profit. Harvesting and -post-harvest equipment are very important tools to ensure good quality of processed rice with minimizing post harvest. Lack of processing units was higher in Misungwi (5.90 %), followed by Shinyanga rural (3.80 %) and Sengerema district (2.60 %). Kahama district has well equipped and sufficient processing unit facilities.
Low quality of rice, on average, was faced by 3.0 % of total rice farmers, highest (6.90 %) by rice farmers in Misungwi districts, followed by Sengerema by (5.10 %). However, Kahama and Shinyanga rural districts were observed to have no problem with the low quality of rice. Quality of product produced is very important during marketing process in order to attract buyer and compete with external market or imported rice. In Lake Zone, markets are characterized by inadequate adherence to rice quality, standards, grades, and -post-harvest management, which limit a product to compete and access broad, regional, and international markets (
Rice farmers in Lake Zone are facing a number of challenges which results in decreased rice production. These challenges differ from place to place or district to district, while others cut across the entire zone. The main production challenges are drought, floods, lack of knowledge about a package of practices, lack of capital, shortage of inputs, high cost of inputs, lack of extension facilities, and infertile lands. While the market challenges were low price with price fluctuation, lack of large market, improper weigh scale, poor marketing system, and shortage of processing unit as the major market challenges which limit the proper market conduct in the study area. Traders in Lake Zone use improper measurement during trade in the local market which discourages rice farmers; there is a need to strengthen the marketing system to enhance rice production. Thus, to avoid the peak and low season market variation, the government should formulate a policy to construct a warehouse in each village for the storage of different agricultural commodities.