Factors Influencing the Price of Honey; A Case of Mvomero District

Abstract

Tanzania is Africa's second largest honey producer, trailing only Ethiopia. It helps to increase both foreign earnings and employment in the country. Despite the positive effects of honey on society, there is still a lack of focus on the factors influencing the market price of honey. The current study intends to look into related factors affecting the price determination of honey in Mvomero district. Specifically, the study aims to assess how the cost, quality and demand of honey affect the market price of honey. The study adopted a cross sectional research design whereby data were collected once from 100 respondents who are honey value chain actors (harvesters, traders and processors) in Mvomero district. Quantitative data retrieved from the questionnaires were analyzed by using SPSS version 20 in which descriptive and binary logistic regression were determined. Results showed that factors such as cost and demand were statistically significant associated with market price of honey in the study area. Furthermore, the quality positively influenced the honey price but not statistically significant in the study area. The study concluded that some explanatory variables include; demand and cost of honey significantly influence the market price of honey along the value chain (p < 0.05). But the quality of honey was not statistically different (p>0.05). The study recommends that majority of beekeepers are capable, but due to a lack of funding and equipment, they are forced to use outdated technology for producing, harvesting, and marketing their products. It is important to encourage both governmental and non-governmental institutions to support the actors.