Abstract:
The research was done to examine the rice market linkage in enhancing smallholder farmer's
income in Same District, Kilimanjaro region. The specific objectives were to: identify how
smallholder farmers market rice, factors hindering access to rice market opportunities and to
identify farmer's strategies on accessing market opportunities. A cross-ssectional research design
was applied during data collection where various techniques of data collection were employed.
Data were collected mainly by using interview, questionnaires, focus group discussion and
observation. SPSS was used to analyse data whereby linear regression and multiple response were
applied in data analysis. The linear regression was used to determine relationship between
variables. The findings show that about 23% of respondents failed to access market opportunity
because of unreliable market information. It was revealed that weak farmer's organisation
contributed to the failure of rice market accessibility and price stability. However inadequate
knowledge on marketing revealed to be a major challenge among smallholder farmers hence failed
to explore rice market opportunity. The entrepreneurial and marketing knowledge should be
improved among smallholder rice farmers to enhance value additional and marketing.
