Enhancing Paddy Returns Through Market Diversification in Lake Zone of Tanzania

ABSTRACT: The study was conducted in the Lake Zone of Tanzania to investigate strategies used to diversify paddy markets while increasing profits. A survey was conducted in Mwanza (Misungwi and Sengerema districts) and Shinyanga regions (Kahama and Shinyanga rural districts), where 265 respondents (231 male and 34 female) were involved. The results showed that most farmers are food insecure due to the fact that they sell their rice beyond threshold. Marketed surplus for paddy farmers was 66.40% where marketable surplus was 60.31% of the total production. Moreover, farmers market rice expanded profit margin by gaining extra profit of 19364.73 TZS equivalent to 27.60% of the paddy traders. Furthermore, 94.90 % of paddy farmers in the study area do not employ chemical inputs i.e. pesticide where 5.10 %. In conclusion, due to low purchasing power of farmers and high cost of chemical fertilizers in their areas paddy farmers may use organic sources of fertilizers such as farm yard manures (FYM) to intensify and improve their production in order to increase productivity, profitability and welfare.