Fundamentals of Cattle Marketing in Homa Bay County, Kenya: Analyzing Market Intermediaries, Price Formation and Yield Performance
Abstract
An understanding of how cattle markets work is a desideratum for sustainable commercialization of cattle production aimed at increasing accessibility to and affordability of cattle meat. This study examined the fundamentals of cattle marketing in Homa bay County, Kenya using primary data collected from 120 respondents selected through multi-stage sampling technique. Data analytical tools included descriptive statistics, budgeting and price formation strategy models. Empirical results showed the market is dominated by males (87.5%), market intermediaries less than 50 years (64.0%) who had formal education (68.0%). The three most important intermediaries were dealers, retailers and brokers. Transportation accounted for 74.3% and 46.2% of Total Variable Cost incurred by dealers and retailers. Cattle marketing was profitable with gross margin per head of cattle sold being Ksh 6548, Ksh 4,655 and Ksh 2,342.50, respectively, for dealers, retailers and brokers while profitability ratio was 1.09, 1.07 and 1.03, respectively. The factors considered important in cattle price discovery included body condition, payment mode and type of buyers while breed,