Economic evaluation of dagaa solar drying innovation for post-harvest losses reduction in Mwanza, Tanzania

Dissertation

Dagaa (Rastrineobola argentae) has been the major commercial fishery of Lake Victoria contributing 67.4% of total fish catch. In Tanzania it constitutes over 38% of the total fish landings from the lake. However, there is a high level of post-harvest loss of about 59%. To minimize the losses, various solar post-harvest innovations for dagaa processing have been developed but there is limited empirical evidence showing costs and benefits of these innovations to justify their adoption. The present study assessed the economic viability of three drying methods of dagaa namely, solar tent, bare sand and raised racks in Mwanza. A completely randomised experimental design, cost benefit analysis and trend analysis were employed to determine post-harvest losses, economic viability and future market of dagaa respectively. Data was collected by simple random sampling of dagaa from boats, key informant interviews and desk review of secondary data. Results showed that solar tent reduces post-harvest losses up to 24.9% compared to raised racks (14.9%) and bare sand (10%) drying methods. Solar tent achieved the highest Net Present Value (NPV) of Tsh. 68,069,703 at the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 341% and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.38 meaning that solar tent is economically viable. Market trend analysis augmented with key informant interviews indicated that domestic market for dagaa is rising. Based on the findings the study recommends solar tent innovation should be promoted to commercial scale to contribute in reducing dagaa post-harvest losses. The reduction of post-harvest losses implies more quantities of dagaa will be available for sale and employment opportunities will be created to enterprises in the fisheries industry. The promotion of the innovation can be done by various stakeholders including the government, private sector, researchers and development partners in forms of interventions to stimulate adoption and further research to upgrade the innovation.