Strategies for Overcoming Product Certification Challenges Faced by Food Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Tanzania

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania face significant regulatory challenges within bureaucratic, costly, and centralized environments.These challenges contribute to an increase in unregistered enterprises and substandard products in the market.This study aimed to address the challenges SMEs encounter in obtaining product certification to improve their product quality and market competitiveness.A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative research through surveys, interviews, and document analysis, with respondents from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO), and SMEs in the food manufacturing sector.Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and JASP.Findings revealed that SMEs face challenges impacting market access (21.4%), product quality (23.6%), safety (19.9%), and competitiveness (18.8%).Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) identified key latent variables influencing these factors, including market access ( = 0.5), product quality ( = 0.7), safety ( = 0.4), and competitiveness ( = 0.6).Additionally, the Delphi technique was employed to validate the findings, involving 10 knowledgeable and experienced respondents in the product certification process.To mitigate challenges hindering product certification among SMEs, several strategies are proposed, including improving certification information dissemination through user-friendly, multilingual online platforms, offering technical expertise, advocating for technology subsidies, and providing financial support through government certification grants.