Country: Tanzania
Location: Arusha, Mbeya and Njombe Regions
Professional Staff provided by our Organization: Prof K.N. Njau (Team Leader),Joseph Kangile (Agricultural Economist), Mr. Evody T. Ndumiwe (Survey Coordinator)
Name of Client: The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Start Date: Jan 2021 Completion date: July 2021
Narrative Description of Project:
The Tanzania National Agricultural Policy of 2013 and other relevant policies identifies that increased use of modern inputs in agricultural production such as fertilizers, agrochemicals and quality seeds is a prerequisite for realizing sufficient agricultural production and growth to meet economic development, poverty reduction, food security and nutrition goals. Hence in order to bring about the involvement of the private sector in production of the improved sector, liberalization of the seed sector was done, which has resulted in increased participation of the private sector in the formal seed system. Among the major actors in the formal seed production system are seed companies that deal with multiplication of certified seeds to enable more supply of improved seeds. Both material and non-material support to seed companies is vital for the sustainability and increased investment in seed production and marketing.
AGRA, being among the major seed development partners in Africa and Tanzania in particular, has contributed to
strengthening the seed sector by supporting various actors along the seed value chain including seed companies. An issue of concern is whether seed companies are making profit in the business, as profitability ensures their sustainability and hence guaranteed supply of improved seeds.
Therefore, contracted ENVICON to conduct research study on Profitability and Development of Seeds Companies in Tanzania to understand this issue and hence findings help in planning and way forward to improve the function of seed companies in the country. In order to compute the profitability of seed companies, gross margin analysis was used as an analytical tool. Twenty-four seed companies headquartered in Arusha, Mbeya and Njombe regions were
interviewed.
Services Provided by ENVICON:
- Develop survey instruments including questionnaire;
- Recruit and train enumerators;
- Conduct pre-testing of the survey instruments;
- Carry out sampling procedures and establish sample size;
- Conduct field survey for interviewing seed companies for data collection;
- Perform data quality assurance;
- Carry out data analysis by using combination of approaches in its analytical framework;
- Prepare draft report with key findings and recommendations;
- Compile final report by incorporating comments from review of draft report.