Resource information
In 2006, the government approved a
national livestock policy based on the premise that the
livestock industry has an important role to play in building
a strong national economy and in the process, reducing
inequalities among Tanzanians by increasing their incomes
and employment opportunities. This report presents an
analysis of rural livelihoods in Tanzania, with particular
emphasis on the livestock sub-sector, smallholder
farmers' living standards, and issues with access to
productive assets. The report attempts to answer basic
questions such as: to what extent is keeping livestock an
activity of the relatively better off, and to what extent
are poorer households able to engage?; how does the role of
livestock vary with different levels of income and
well-being?; how are livestock holding size and structure
associated with differences in welfare, gender, and
geography?; how important are input and output markets for
small livestock keepers?; what form does this market
participation take in practice, and to what extent?; and to
what extent do the non-income services of livestock (for
example, manure, draught power) benefit crop production? The
study is based on data from the Tanzania national panel
survey (NPS) collected by the national bureau of statistics
(NBS) from October 2008 to October 2009 as part of the first
wave of a nationally representative living standards survey.
Data was collected using household, agricultural, and
community questionnaires in which information was obtained
at the individual, household, plot, and community level The
report is organized as follows: section one gives background
information; description of the data is presented in section
two, in section three the authors analyze the composition of
rural income, household endowment of human capital, and
access to infrastructure and assets, in order to gain an
understanding of the level of wellbeing in the rural space.
A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of small rural
livestock owners and their production practices is provided
in section four, which highlights the heterogeneity of the
households engaged in the livestock sector and presents
evidence of the sector's importance to rural
livelihoods in terms of both income and consumption. Section
five concludes with a discussion of key results and their
implications for policy and further analysis.
