Analysis of the animal feeds market for producers and suppliers in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

The use of manufactured livestock feeds has not been well popularized among farmers especially in the rural Ugandan communities despite the growing natural resource constraints on the conventional range-land grazing system, such as, the consistent climate variability and competing demands for land due to population pressure. This study analyzed the market for the animal feeds produced in Kampala, Uganda. The study specifically; documented the different livestock feeds and concentrate on the Ugandan market: analyzed the determinants of farmers’ choice of the feed supplier or brand and: assessed the main marketing mix employed by different feed companies in the animal feeds market in Uganda. The study adopted a cross-sectional design employing quantitative approach of data collection and analysis. Data was collected from the 140 randomly selected Kampala-based producers and suppliers of animal feeds in Uganda. Data from the field was processed and analyzed using SPSS Version 25.0. Results show that the commonly available feeds and concentrates in the market include the maize husks crushed and mixed with sodium chloride, processed maize corns, and dry roughages–especially the mixture of processed oat grass with milled peanut. The major drivers of farmers’ choice for different feeds or feeds brands in the market include price and convenient access to the feeds. Sales promotion was the main marketing mix used by feeds producers/suppliers to attract the local market. In Conclusion and recommendations, Findings show that most of the feeds available in the market are dry roughages mainly processed from locally available materials such as maize plant and corns, grass, and molasses. Thus, farmers prefer these feeds especially when affordable and accessible, with optimism for realizing high quality animals’ feeds that can compete on the market. The study recommends that efforts should be made by all stakeholders to ensure that the potential farmers are aware of the availability and the benefits of using processed feeds over rangeland grazing.