Assessment of hides and skins marketing in Tigrai Region: the case of Atsbi Wemberta Wereda, Eastern Tigrai

Hides and skins have a wide importance mainly as a source of foreign currency of the leather industry to the country. The consumption of these products is low for reasons of low quality and market imperfection. Measures to solve the problem in the area were limited because of little research and consideration. The objectives of the study were to identify the roles of the major actors and market channels, analyze strengths and weakness of the marketing system, and estimate the potential demand of the hides and skins. A survey was conducted in which data and information were collected from 15 local collectors 5 butcheries and 6 hides and skins traders using structured questionnaire. Secondary data including prices, marketing, and purchase and sales of the raw material were collected from government bodies and private organizations. In addition, the production and quality of hides and skins were studied by selecting 121 sample rural household heads from 4 villages of the wereda using two stage random sampling. Formal and informal data collection tools of both primary and secondary data were also used. In analyzing the marketing conditions of the raw materials, descriptive statistics and SCP paradigm were used. Results indicate that 66% of rural households sell hides and skins to local collector in rural areas, while 34% supplied to the wereda wholesalers. Buying process was done without following the grading standards of hides and skins, by simple sorting based on visible defects. The concentration analysis indicated that the market was highly oligopolistic with narrow range of market concentration. The marketing margin and marketing cost analysis showed transport charges, income and municipality tax, labour cost, preservation material cost and store rent were costs that influenced the marketing margin. High market concentration, barriers to entry in terms of capital and credit, and high marketing margin in the study area reveal that hides and skins marketing was inefficient. Therefore, to improve marketing system, correcting malpractices, implementation of standard grades and provision of market information, capacity building for all actors in the chain, strengthening the extension service on the product handling and management to farmers were recommended.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Arkebe, B.N.
Format:	Thesis biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Addis Ababa University 2009-06-15
Subjects:	hides and skins,
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/677
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