Marketing Efficiency and Its Determinants among Smallholder Pig Farmers in Manzini, Swaziland

Abstract

The escalating number of farmers venturing into the pig agribusiness has not resulted in improvement of production and pig marketing to meet the ever-increasing demand for pork. The main objective of the study was to determine the determinants of marketing efficiency of pig farmers in Swaziland to understand the economic importance of pig farming in Swaziland. The study used a descriptive quantitative research design. The study used primary data collected randomly from 84 pig farmers sampled from a population of 444 pig farmers in the study area. A structured questionnaire that was validated and pre-tested was used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Shepherd’s formula and Tobit regression. The results of the study indicate that the majority of pig farmers were male, with an average age of 44.6 years. Determinants of marketing efficiency of pig farmers were identified as the number of pigs reared, labour costs associated with slaughtering, abattoir fees, communication expenses, costs of feed chopping, the farmers’ age and sex, proximity to markets, and transportation to market. Additionally, the study revealed that high feed costs constituted the primary challenge faced by pig farmers. It can also be recommended that farmer groups should be encouraged to establish their own processing facilities and also encourage group marketing to reduce abattoir charges, costs of chopping and communication costs, respectively. The government should establish facilities nearby to reduce the abattoir charges, communication costs, transport costs and processing costs.