Evaluation of market opportunities of beef traders in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

There are various interventions by the government of Uganda together with other stakeholders to boost the quantity and quality of beef in Uganda. However little has been done to establish the market opportunities of beef in the country. Consequently, there is limited knowledge concerning the traders‟ desired attributes as well as other factors that influence the sales of beef at different stages of the chain. The study therefore aimed at evaluating the market opportunities of beef in Kampala. Specific objectives were to characterise traders in the beef marketing chain in Kampala, establish the traders‟ most demanded attributes and their perception of quality beef and to determine the factors that influence the beef sales amongst the different traders in Kampala. The study was conducted in the five divisions of Kampala City. A combination of sampling techniques was used to select respondents who participated in the study including; purposive, snowball and simple random sampling. The sampling procedure started with an exploratory qualitative survey. The survey was aimed at establishing and categorizing the different beef traders in Kampala city, with an overall objective of forming clusters for a sampling frame. Primary data for the major survey were collected from a sample of 153 respondents by use of a questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression with the help of SPSS and STATA computer software. Study results indicated that the largest quantity of beef from wholesalers was channelled through retail butchers to household consumers. Comparison of supermarkets with each of the other retailers indicated significant differences. The most demanded beef attribute for wholesalers of beef and retail butchers was fatty beef. There was a significant association of fatty beef with each of these categories of traders. Regressions for the category of retail butchers revealed that fatty beef had a positive relationship with beef sales and was significant at 5%. In addition, size of capital and experience positively correlated with beef sales for both wholesalers and retail butchers and were significant. Grading of beef was also positively significant for the category of retail butchers. On the other hand, compliance to MAAIF regulations on handling and hygiene at abattoirs/slaughter houses adversely affected income revenues from beef. The study identified several opportunities.