Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has remained a major source of food security and income generation for most developing countries including Tanzania due to its ability to drought and disease resistance. At present, its production in Tanzania stands at 630,000 tons while the country's market demand is expected to grow at 7% by 2026.  Therefore, this study assessed the contribution of cassava production and marketing on the livelihood of smallholder farmers in Tanzania particularly in the Dodoma region, so as to explore its potential contributions to the society welfare. A cross-sectional research design was employed whereby a multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting a sample of 240 cassava smallholder farmers from four districts in the Dodoma region namely Kondoa, Chemba, Kongwa, and Mpwapwa. Quantitative data were collected through self-administered structured questionnaires and focus group discussion, interview and observation methods also were used in collecting qualitative data from the study area. Content analysis was used in analyzing qualitative data.  A binary logistic regression model was employed to estimate the contribution of cassava production and marketing on smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in the region. The findings from the study indicated that family size, farmers’ experience, land size, education, number of visits by extension, and market access statistically were significant with showed a positive relationship with the improvement in the livelihood of farmers in the selected districts. On the other hand, transportation costs showed a negative relation with the improvement of farmers’ livelihood. Generally, it can be concluded that an increase in production and improvement in marketing variables could contribute much to the improvement of smallholder farmers’ livelihood.  Based on these findings, it is recommended that Ministries responsible for cassava production and marketing which included the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade focus more on the design, promotion, and implementation of policies and programs that are intended to enhance cassava production in rural areas and increase the provision of best farming practices through employing more extension officers.

This study assessed the effect of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on the production and marketing of maize for smallholder farmers in Mbozi and Momba Districts located in Songwe region in Tanzania. A cross-sectional design was employed in gathering primary data. A two-stage stratified sampling procedure was used in the selection of 400 smallholder farmers, who were surveyed using standardized questionnaires. In estimating the effect of NTBs on maize production and supply, the duality model was employed. The results indicate that NTBs have a depressive effect on the quantity of maize produced and marketed. The findings further show that a unit increase in transaction costs attributed to NTBs could reduce the quantity of maize produced by 16 per cent in the two districts. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the quantity of maize produced and supplied by farmers in the two districts decreases with an increase in the NTB costs. The study recommends the reduction and/or removal of the NTBs, which impede maize production and marketing among smallholder farmers. This would help the government to achieve its goals of creating high prices in the surplus districts and attain low consumer prices in the deficit urban centers, thus reducing poverty.

This study assessed the effects of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on market participation for maize smallholder farmers in the major maize producing districts of Mbozi and Momba in Mbeya region located in the Southern Highland of Tanzania. A two-stage stratified sampling was used in selecting 240 smallholder farmers from the selected villages in two districts and interviewed. In estimating the effects of NTBs on market participation and quantity of maize sold by farmers, the two-stage Henchman model was used. Results showed that, NTBs and distance to market had negative effects on the quantity of maize supplied and market participation. This implies that, for every 100% increase in application of NTBs by the government could decrease market participation and sell of maize by 77% from smallholder farmers. However, ownership of assets and amount of harvest were found to increase maize supply and market participation by 68 and 2%, respectively. The study concluded that, application of NTBs policies in Tanzania could not increase supply of maize especially on surplus regions and districts. In contrast could discourage farmers' market participation. Therefore, it was recommend that, government should eliminate discriminative NTBs and improve market infrastructures such as roads and storage facilities in order to increase farmers' market participation.

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