Smallholders Livestock Keepers Breeding Choice and Its Implication on Poverty Reduction in Tanzania

Abstract The paper examines forces behind smallholder livestock keepers’ decision towards breeding choices by widening the choices between improved dairy and beef cattle and traditional breeds and its implication in poverty reduction in Tanzania. The study has utilized the Tanzania household panel data survey of 2017/18 entailing all 27 mainland regions by focusing on the smallholder livestock keepers. The study shows that majority of smallholder livestock keepers are residing in rural areas constituting 85.87% with the sector being dominated by males owning 76.665 of entire livestock. However, the traditional breeds are dominant forming 56.43% of entire breeds in the country followed by improved beef and dairy breeds with 40.51% and 3.06% respectively. The sector is characterized by low education whereas 55.38% of the smallholder livestock keepers have no formal education, those with primary education are 41.74% and those with higher education are just 1.03% countrywide. Moreover, the multinomial logit results showed that choices of smallholder livestock keepers on cattle breeding categories significantly depend on a residence, national zoning, income diversification (farming and business ownership), education as well as per capita income with 52.45% living below the poverty line. The study recommends that the national livestock development program and livestock master plan should reconsider poverty as the focal point of change for the sectoral development and actors.