The geography of agricultural input markets in rural Tanzania

dc.creatorRutsaert, P.
dc.creatorChamberlin, J.
dc.creatorOluoch, K.O.
dc.creatorKitoto, V.O.
dc.creatorDonovan, J.A.
dc.date2021-07-10T00:15:12Z
dc.date2021-07-10T00:15:12Z
dc.date2021
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-17T20:07:50Z
dc.date.available2023-07-17T20:07:50Z
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10883/21568
dc.identifier10.1007/s12571-021-01181-9
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorioslatinoamericanos.uchile.cl/handle/2250/7513349
dc.descriptionThe expansion of agro-dealers into remote areas can be seen as conducive to more smallholders adopting new technologies and inputs, to include improved seed and fertilizer. However, lower travel costs may be offset by agro-dealer decisions on stocking and pricing, reflecting both travel time from wholesale markets as well as the level of competition in localized areas. This paper investigates the geographical distribution of agro-dealers and related patterns of local market competition on the availability and prices of maize seed and fertilizer. We use a unique census of agro-dealers in eight districts of Tanzania (n = 299) which maps distribution points for agricultural inputs in these areas. Results suggested that despite a high number of agro-dealers, almost 30% of farmers lived more than an hour travel time from at least one agro-dealer. Instead of wide geographical coverage, agro-dealers tended to be found in clusters, with strong variation in cluster sizes between different districts. Overall, more remote agro-dealers faced less competition, resulting in fewer stocked product choices and charging higher prices to customers, even after controlling for travel time from district headquarters. Remote farmers are disadvantaged in their uptake of new technologies and critical production inputs due to lack of competition among agro-dealers. Our results suggest that highly aggregated and/or simplified measures of market access fail to reflect important heterogeneity in the market access conditions faced by farmers; a better understanding of distribution networks and competition is needed.
dc.description1379-1391
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.rightsCIMMYT manages Intellectual Assets as International Public Goods. The user is free to download, print, store and share this work. In case you want to translate or create any other derivative work and share or distribute such translation/derivative work, please contact CIMMYT-Knowledge-Center@cgiar.org indicating the work you want to use and the kind of use you intend; CIMMYT will contact you with the suitable license for that purpose
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.source6
dc.source13
dc.source1876-4517
dc.sourceFood Security
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
dc.subjectAgro-Dealers
dc.subjectRemoteness
dc.subjectAGRO-INDUSTRY
dc.subjectMARKET ACCESS
dc.subjectSPATIAL ANALYSIS
dc.subjectRURAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.titleThe geography of agricultural input markets in rural Tanzania
dc.typeArticle
dc.typePublished Version
dc.coverageTanzania
dc.coverageNew York (USA)


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