Tanzania has continuously been faced with a shortage of edible oil as evidenced by the demand and supply gap for edible oil in the country. This study aimed at analyzing the factors affecting profitability of sunflower production among smallholder farmers in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. Multi-stage sampling was applied to select a total of 138 smallholder sunflower farmers in Kongwa District and Dodoma City in Dodoma region. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data through face-to-face interviews. The study employed a Gross Margin Analysis to estimate the profit and then linear regression analysis to analyze the determinants of profit in the study area. The average Gross Margin of sunflower production was TZS 268,450. The results indicate further that experience, land size, household size, use of improved seeds, pests and disease control, land preparation, use of industrial fertilizer, and use of irrigation were significant in explaining the variation in profit level among sunflower producers in Dodoma region. Therefore, it can be concluded that the majority of the sunflower producers in the study are profit efficient as they use good agriculture practices. Therefore, the study recommends several measures to enhance the increase of sunflower production in the study area that includes: improving production skills through providing training on good agriculture practices, utilization of extension services and considering increasing the size of production which might boost the level of profit among sunflower producers in Dodoma region.
Loading....