Performance of evening street markets of agri-food products in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania

MSc. Dissertation in Agriculture Economics And Agribusiness

The study aimed at assessing the performance of street evening marketing of agri-food products in Morogoro municipality by examining the structure of evening agri-food street markets, assessing the conduct of sellers, analysing performance of the markets in terms of cost and profitability, and identifying factors underlying profitability. A structured questionnaire was administered to 118 sellers and 40 consumers selected using convenience sampling. The results showed that the market structure for both snack-meals and fresh fruits were competitive, with concentration indices of 20.64% and 18.98% respectively, and 83% of sellers derived their income entirely from the business. Profit margin analysis showed that the snack-meals sellers in the town centre earned significantly (P<0.05) more profit per day (TAS 39 142) compared to sellers in the periphery (TAS 16 225). Although fresh fruit sellers in the town centre earned more profit per day (TAS 10 157) compared to sellers in the periphery (TAS 7 811), the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.1). Regression analysis indicated that gender product diversification and type of product had a significant (P<0.05) positive impact on the sellers’ profit. Results also showed that majority of consumers (58%) preferred the street food because it was cheap, with 40% of them preferred to eat fried banana with beef barbeque. In conclusion, street evening marketing in Morogoro municipality is profitable and competitive, with limited barriers to market entry. Recommendations include enhancing the operational efficiency of evening street agri-food markets and formalisation of the operations by the municipal council through: allocation of hygienic premises, provision of business permits and facilitation of formation of sellers’ associations to promote growth and credit worthiness of the evening agri-food street markets.

DelPIIE PROJECT in terms of scholarship