Resource information
Linking farmers to markets is widely
viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and
poverty reduction. However, market and institutional
imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical
and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and
market actors from getting access to information,
identifying business opportunities and allocating their
resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led
rural development and poverty reduction. This paper reviews
and analyses household information, and the major livestock
market and marketing data available in Tanzania, in relation
to market-led development possibilities. Household-level
data collected by the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics
and market data collected and disseminated by the Livestock
Information and Knowledge System of the Tanzania Ministry of
Industry and Trade are reviewed and utilized together. Both
types of data help identify market opportunities for
livestock producers, but only their joint use could provide
policy makers with the information needed to design and
implement policies that facilitate access to markets for
livestock producers. Options to promote integration of
household-level data and market data are discussed, which
would facilitate the implementation of the Tanzania
statistical master plan and contribute to the implementation
of the global strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics.
