Factors Affecting Agro-Pastoralist and Pastoralists’ Willingness to Adopt Beef Cattle Fattening in the Lake Zone in Tanzania

Abstract

The study investigated the factors affecting Agro-pastoralists and Pastoralists willingness to adopt beef cattle fattening technology in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions of the lake zone in Tanzania. Data were collected from Agro-pastoralist and Pastoralist using structured questionnaire administered to 401 randomly selected cattle keepers. Eight districts were involved; five in Shinyanga region (Kahama, Kishapu, Meatu, Bariadi, Maswa) and three in Mwanza region (Nyamagana, Sengerema, Magu). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. Results from this analysis indicate that 93.5% of the respondents were willing to fatten their cattle if given an opportunity, while14.7% had already started to fatten their cattle ranging from 30 to 100 animals per fattening cycle of three to four months. The results further indicated that the major factors influencing adoption of beef cattle fattening were marital status (p<0.1), awareness (p<0.05) and attitude towards the technology (p<0.01). Being married and being aware of the fattening technology increased the likelihood of adoption by 6.3% and 11.3% respectively. Mean while, a one unit change in attitude towards beef cattle fattening increased the likelihood of adoption by 0.3%. The major constraints limiting beef cattle fattening were lack of skills (22.6%), shortage of credit (20.4%), high costs of fattening (17%), limited availability of feeds (14.2%) and lack of infrastructure (e.g. water dam/borehole, roads, cattle dip, veterinary centers)that are adapted for fattening (12.4%).