Abstract

Beef cattle marketing assumes a central position in the rural development discussion and economic growth in Eswatini. However, scantiness in empirical assessment on market outlet choice undercuts the establishment of pro-poor market systems for improved livelihoods. Therefore, this study sought to determine the drivers of beef cattle market outlet choice. The Snowball-purposive sampling technique was conducted to collect data, through personal interviews guided by a structured questionnaire, from a sample of 328 farmers. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression were used for data analysis. The results indicate that 51.83%, 42.38% and 5.79% of the farmers marketed through the processor-butcher, direct and feedlotter outlets, respectively. Education and exotic breeds were associated with the feedlotter outlet. Vectors of marketing and production-related factors are the main drivers of market outlet choice. Pasture availability revealed statistical significance at p < 0.01 , while off-farm employment and cooperative membership were significant at p < 0.05 . The proportions of cows and oxen in the herd were significant at p < 0.1 . The study recommends farmer-training and protection of pastures to advance selection of formal outlets. Cooperativism is a suggested mechanism for creating farmers’ bargaining power. A conducive market framework is required for the promotion of formal market outlets. Keywords: market outlet choice, beef cattle, multinomial logit model, Eswatini DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-8-03 Publication date: April 30 th 2020

Highlights

  • Eswatini is an agrarian-based economy, where livelihoods of the majority (70%) are dependent on small-scale agriculture in rural areas

  • 4.2.3 Price and Marketing Factors The results reveal that this category is the main vector of the drivers of the market outlet choice decision

  • Based on the findings, the study concludes that formal education and the use of high-quality exotic breeds are critical for the shift towards intensive beef production and marketing through formal market outlets

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Summary

Introduction

Eswatini is an agrarian-based economy, where livelihoods of the majority (70%) are dependent on small-scale agriculture in rural areas. Common in sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder agriculture remains a plausible avenue for rural and national economic growth (Zivenge & Karavina, 2012). The livestock subsector, dominated by smallholder farmers (Department of Veterinary and Livestock Services, 2018b), remains the major contributor (4.4%) to the gross domestic product contributed by the primary sector (8.6%) to national gross domestic product (Central Statistics Office, 2018). In this regard, beef cattle farming and marketing have assumed central positions in the rural development discussion in the country. Farmers in Eswatini have not yet derived full benefit from this enterprise (Mabuza, Ortmann, & Wale, 2014)

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