Browsing by Author "Mlambiti, M."

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    Performance of various marketing channels for sweet potato value added products
    (Academe Research, 2013) Mmasa, J.; Msuya, E. E.; Mlambiti, M.
    The objective of this study was to assess the performance of various marketing channels for sweet potato value added products. The study used cross sectional design. It used individual interviews, focused group discussions;review of relevant practical documents and discussions with key informants. Data collected were summarized using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) and Excel. Moreover the study adopted Structure-Conduct-Performance (S-C-P) model to analyze the performance of sweet potato value added products marketing system. Furthermore, the study employed gross margin analysis to measure profitability of various market channels. Regarding sweet potato prices, it was found to vary from one node to another. The analysis revealed that there is no market transparency in the sweet potatoes value added products marketing system due to poor coordination on prices information, grades and quality and standard weights of the product in question. Furthermore,bulkiness and perishability affected post-harvest system of the products which acts as barriers. Other serious challenges facing the sub sector were lack of improved seeds(33.1%), low capital (26.8%), unpredictable weather (20.6%)and pests attack (13.9%). The sub-sector seems not to perform efficiently and hence there is poor economic performance due to poor production, lack of market information, low prices, and poor quality of both the sector and the product.
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    Socio- economic factors affecting consumption of sweet potato Products: An empirical approach
    (International Institute for Science, Technology and Education, 2012) Mmasa, J.; Msuya, E. E.; Mlambiti, M.
    The objective of the study was to analyze factors affecting consumption of value added products of sweet potato. The study was conducted in Shinyanga rural and Mwanza urban. Using cross sectional design, the study employed individual interviews, focused group discussions; review of relevant practical documents and discussions in data collection from a total of 200 surveyed households. Data collected was summarized using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) windows versions 18.0.Analyses of the factors hypothesized to influence the consumption of sweet potatoes was carried out using multiple regression analysis. The goodness of fit of the model which is high as measured using coefficients of determination (R2). The higher value of R2 suggests that variables included in the model explained about 73% of the variations in the dependent variable. The F –Value is significant, indicating that the explanatory variables were statistically significant in explaining variation in the dependent variable. Furthermore, Variation Inflation Factor confirms absence of serious collinearity problem. Similarly, Durbin Watson test confirms the absence of autocorrelation. Furthermore, the data revealed that the sizes of land owned and education level are highly statistically significant at (p < 0.01) and statistically significant (p < 0.05) respectively. Hence there is need for farmers to increase the land area for sweet potatoes production to medium scale. Regarding to sweet potato prices it was found to vary from one node to another. However, there are a number of challenges facing the development of the sweet potato industry in Tanzania. The chronic shortage of seed is the most important challenge that needs to be dealt with (33.1%). Others were lack of capital (26.8%) unpredicted weather and pests/insect attack were the most critical challenges facing the subsector. Keywords: Sweet potato, value added products, consumption, Michembe, Matobolwa