MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
-Marketing: refers to making communication about products or services. A purpose of which is to encourage the receipt of the communication to purchase/ use the product of the service
-Marketing involves finding what customers want, setting out to meet their needs provided and it can be done at a profit.
-Distribution: is a commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from a producer to a consumer. It is about how to get the product in the hands of consumer.
NOTE
The topic of distribution tries to identify the role played by cooperatives, crop authority, board, agencies, corporation etc.
In Tanzania marketing and distribution is done by;
1. Cooperative societies
2. Marketing board
3. Internal and external trade authority
4. Private companies.
COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
A cooperative societies is association of people who join voluntary with some common goal or objective
Is an autonomous association of person united voluntary meet their common economic, social and cultural needs.
Cooperative societies are based on the following principles;
1. Open membership
2. Limited interest on capital
3. Democratic control
4. Cooperative education for all members
TYPES OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
Societies are categorized into two main groups
1. According to membership registration
This includes primary cooperative society, secondary cooperative societies, national cooperative society and international cooperative society.
2. According to their services
This include saving and credit cooperative society, marketing cooperative society.
Consumer cooperative society
Transport cooperative society
Handcraft cooperative society
ROLES OF MARKETING COOPERATIVE SOCIETY
1. They help formers to market their produce
2. They own and run farms
3. They increase the bargaining power of their members
4. They protect farmers against exploitation by middlemen
5. They provide education to the members
6. They provide subsidies of inputs to formers
7. They provide employment in transport and marketing
8. They provide advice to farmers
9. They provide social services to the members
PROBLEMS FACING MARKETING COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
1. Government interference
2. Embezzlement of funds by leaders
3. Lack of skilled labors
4. Problem of mismanagement due to lack of managerial skills
5. Dishonest members where some of them are poor
6. Shortage of credit facilities to member
7. Inadequate transport, storage and packing facilities
8. Corruption
9. Tribalism
MARKETING BOARDS
Are trading agencies established by the government to control the marketing of primary and processed agricultural commodities.
There two main categories of marketing boards;
1. The export marketing board
2. Statutory boards
II) STATUTORY BOARDS.
This is a marketing board that involved in market of food stuffs e.g. maize, cashew nuts etc
Examples of marketing boards in Tanzania;
1. Cotton marketing board
2. Coffee board
3. Maize produced board
4. Cashew nut board
ROLES OF MARKETING BOARDS
1. Buying product from farmers
2. Setting out prices with the help of the government
3. Storage and collection of produce
4. They offer transport from the producers to the warehouse
5. They offer advices to producers on mechanization and new technology
6. They control the production of the produce
7. They advice the government on importation and exportation products
8. They conduct research on marketing of agricultural product
9. They conduct selling of produce.
PROBLEMS FACING MARKETING BOARDS
1. The problem of overproduction
2. Price fluctuation
3. Government interference
4. Competition from private buyers
5. Delay of payment to farmers which discourages crop product
6. Lack of enough market for the produce
7. Low quality produce as result of poor technology
8. Problem of mismanagement of marketing boards.
BOARD OF INTERNAL TRADE (BIT)
It was establish in 1973 replacing state trading company. The board has the following functions;
1. Conducting internal market research
2. Advising the businessmen and government on trading activities
3. Organizing internal trade fair and exhibition
4. It sets and revises internal trade policies
5. They supervise all internal trade activities
6. They provide employment to qualified person in the board
BOARD OF EXTERNAL TRADE (BET)
The following are the function of BET;
1. They conduct market research
2. They provide training of personnel in foreign trade
3. They provide information on export commodities requiring businessmen from abroad
4. They provide consultation services
5. They participate in trade outside the country
6. They look for market for produce abroad
PRIVATE CROP BUYERS.
Are businessmen, who buy crops directly from producers, they can be in the form of individual or companies.
ADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE CROP BUYERS.
1. They provide incentives to farmers
2. They buy and pay in cash
3. They reduce bureaucracy in buying of crop
4. They increase competition in buying of crops
5. They provide subsidies and other financial assistance to the farmers
6. They reduce the producer’s problems of storage by buying immediately of harvesting.
DISADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE CROP BUYERS.
1. Private buyers lead to instability in price.
2. Private buyers buy produce at low prices to maximize profit
3. They do not provide education to producers
4. Private buyers do not private infrastructure services like those provided by cooperative and market board.
5. Private buyers reduce the strength of cooperative society
6. They do not help to improve the quality of the produce
7. Private buyers do not provide inputs to producer like cooperative society.
8. The existence of private crop buyers has led to decline of quality some product because sell crops before they mature at low price.
9. The existences of private buyer have led to high level of theft of produce.
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION.
Transport; is a movement of a good or service from one place to another.
The following are the modes of transport.
There are mainly three forms or modes of transport namely.
1. Land transport
2. Air transport
3. Water transport.