As the share of small ruminant meat, especially sheep, in the demand and consumption of meat in general grows, information about consumer expenditure behaviour and demand parameters for live sheep will be valuable for several interest groups in the sheep industry. Using the Heckman two-stage approach, this study shows that sheep prices and household income, as well as socio-demographic factors, including household size and composition, significantly affect the likelihood of buying live sheep and expenditures on live sheep.

Marketing transactions take place in an environment where information is shared and exchanged among and between sellers, buyers and middlemen. It is argued that traders and middlemen have a competitive advantage over producers in negotiating for prices, because the former have access to prices in both primary and terminal markets, while the latter only have limited access to prices in the primary markets. This Research Brief highlights the situation regarding access to livestock marketing information by producers in pastoral markets of Kenya.