Small Agro-processing industries and rural household livelihoods in Tanzania: The case of ginger factory in Same district
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Date
2017
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Mzumbe university
Abstract
This study is an effort to determine the contribution of Small Agro-Processing Industries (SAPIs) on improving Rural Household Livelihoods (RHLs) drawing principally on examples from ginger factory in Same District in Tanzania. This study covered three specific objectives which are to assess the contribution of ginger factory to farming households’ income; also, to determine the influence of ginger factory to the accessibility of social services including education, health and water in the study area; lastly, to examine the capacity of ginger factory in consuming farmers ginger produces. The study employed a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Data were collected from 125 systematically sampled households and from purposive sampled select key informants. Data collection methods involved key informants interview, observation and documentary review. The data of households’ income, food security and access to social services were analyzed descriptively in terms of frequencies and percentages using SPSS. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that 29% of the respondents asserted that, their livelihoods have been improved through the presence of ginger factory during 2015 to 2016. However, 71% of the respondents claimed that, they were not improving their livelihoods because they had to sell their ginger to middlemen at low price. Moreover, this study observed that the ginger factory did not operate effectively due to poor industrial machinery and inadequate capital. The study concluded that, SAPIs need to be improved due to its remarkable contribution in improving rural livelihoods. The study recommends the government through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) should promote ginger factory by allocating investors with enough skills and capital to operate this industry so as to improve people’s livelihoods.
Description
A dissertation submitted to Mzumbe University as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Masters Degree of Science in Development Policy (MSc. DP) of Mzumbe University.
Keywords
Accessibility of social services, Ginger processing factory, Household income, Rural households livelihoods, Public Private Partnerships, Small Agro-Processing Industries