Value addition of beef cattle fattening in the Lake Zone in Tanzania: Challenges and opportunities

S N Mlote, N S Y Mdoe*, A Isinika* and L A Mtenga*

Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development,
P.O Box 9152, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Sophie_eznm@yahoo.com
* Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3007, Morogoro, Tanzania

Abstract

A study was conducted in the lake zone in Tanzania to characterize the beef supply chain with a focus on beef cattle fattening. Challenges and opportunities were also identified. Data were collected from various actors and stakeholders in the chain through focus group discussion and use of structured questionnaire which covered 401 Pastoralist and Agro pastoralist, 90 cattle fattening operators and 10 key informants in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions. Eight districts were involved; five districts (Kahama, Kishapu, Meatu, Bariadi, and Maswa) in Shinyanga region and three districts (Nyamagana, Sengerema, Magu) in Mwanza region.  Data were analyzed using descriptive and gross margin analysis.  

 

The findings show that the supply chain is characterized by low value addition among the pastoralist and high value addition among the beef cattle fatteners. Opportunities identified included: high market access and prices for fattened cattle compared to animals that are not fattened.  However, fattening was constrained by availability and high costs of feeds due to alternative outlets for cotton husks and cotton seed cake.  A business model for enhancing the supply chain for beef cattle fattening in the areas is suggested. 

Key words: Actors, Agro pastoralist, Pastoralist, Producers, Supply chain, Traders

Introduction

This paper presents an overview of the beef cattle supply chain in Mwanza and Shinyanga regions with a focus in beef cattle fattening.  According to the National Sample Census for Agriculture (NSCA) latest figures of 2008/2007, Mwanza and Shinyanga regions in the Lake Zone have the largest population of cattle in Tanzania.  Shinyanga region had a total of 3.65 million cattle equivalent to 17 percent of the total cattle population of Tanzania Mainland.  Mwanza had 1.97 million cattle equivalent to 9 percent of the total cattle population.   About 44.8 and 36.6 percent of households in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions respectively are rearing cattle (NSCA   2007/2008).  Other regions with large livestock numbers in the country include Tabora (2.13 million), Arusha (1.81million), Mara (1.69 million), Manyara (1.66 million), Dodoma (1.16 million), and Singida (1.59 million).  These regions contribute about 74 percent of the total cattle population, ranking Tanzania on top among Southern African Development Community (SADC) for having the largest cattle herd and third in Africa after Ethiopia and Sudan (Ministry of Livestock Development –MLD 2006, Food and Agriculture Organization-FAO 2010, Himo Tanners and Planters Ltd 2010).

Cattle population in the country and in the study area has been reported to have an increasing trend as indicated by the inter-census population growth rates (NSCA 1984 1994/95 2002/2003 and 2007/2008) as shown in Figure 1.  The dominance of the Lake zone as the hub of beef cattle production in the country continues but the Southern highlands and Southern regions have also increased their share of the beef cattle herd as indicated by the following statistics; Lake Zone which include Mara, Kagera, Shinyanga and Mwanza regions contribute about 39%;  Central regions (Tabora, Singida and Dodoma) 23.1%; Northern regions (Arusha, Manyara and Kilimanjaro) 18.9 %;  Southern highlands regions (Mbeya, Iringa, Rukwa and Kigoma) 11%;  Eastern regions (Morogoro, Tanga, Coast and DSM) 7.8 %  and the Southern  regions (Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma) 0.8%.  The dairy cattle herd accounts for only 2 percent and are concentrated mainly in the Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Mbeya regions.  These regions comprise almost 53% of the Tanzanian dairy cattle.   In 2008, the number of beef and dairy cattle producers in Tanzania mainland reached 1.66 million households equivalent to 29.1 percent of the total Tanzania population (NSCA 2007/2008).  Figure 1 presents the distribution of cattle by region as reported by various livestock census since 1984.

Despite of the large number of cattle available in the country, livestock industry contribution to the national economy is low.   In 2010, for example the industry contributed only 16% and 3.8% to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product and National Gross Domestic Products respectively and the sector grew by only 3.4% compared to 4.4 for the crop sector (United Republic of Tanzania (URT) Economic Survey 2010).  This is mainly due to low livestock growth rates, high mortality rates, low production and reproductive rates and poor quality of the final products from the industry (MLD 2006, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development- MLFD 2010).

Recently, there has been great emphasis in the country to commercialize beef cattle production for the sector to contribute more effectively to household food security, and income as well as to the nation’s economy (MLD 2006).  Beef cattle fattening has been earmarked as one among several means to improve beef cattle production through value addition.   The word value addition can be defined as the additional value of a commodity over the cost of commodities used to produce it from the previous stage of production (wikipedia.com) or the value added to any product or service as the result of particular process (webopedia.com).  It is also possible for value to be added by cost reduction as a result of increasing productivity.  In the case of beef cattle fattening in Shinyanga and Mwanza region, value was added to cattle purchased from pastoralists and agro-pastoralists by increasing productivity and improving the quality of beef cattle through supplementary feeding using concentrates.  In this case, animals of lower grades were bought from producers at the primary livestock markets by traders at lower prices and fed cotton seed cakes and cotton husks or maize bran for three to four months before selling again at premium or higher prices to other traders or slaughter houses.  

The study aimed at establishing the structure of the beef sub sector in Mwanza and Shinyanga regions of Tanzania where fattening of cattle is increasingly becoming important.  Specifically, the objectives of the study were to (i) identify and characterize the existing and potential supply chain strands for beef cattle; (ii) identify primary actors in the supply chain while pointing out their roles and interrelationships; and (iii) identify associated challenges and opportunities for improving the supply chain.

Methodology

The study involved collecting primary and secondary data from various actors and stakeholders in the chain through focused group discussion and use of structured questionnaire, which covered 401 Pastoralist and Agro pastoralist, 90 cattle fattening entrepreneurs and 10 key informants in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions.  The study covered five districts in Shinyanga region namely Kahama, Kishapu, Meatu, Bariadi and Maswa and three districts in Mwanza region namely Nyamagana/Ilemela, Sengerema and Magu as shown in Figure 2 below.   The survey involved major beef sub sector stakeholders namely Pastoralists / Agro-pastoralists, Beef cattle fattening operators, traders, processors, butcheries and government officials (key informants) who were purposively selected as shown in figure 3 and 4 below.  The preliminary survey was conducted from April to June, 2010 and was followed by the detailed survey which was conducted from July to September, 2011. 

 

 

 

Data were analysed using descriptive methods to obtain information on frequencies, means, percentages and Gross Margins (GM) of different actors along the supply chain. The gross margin of an enterprise is the difference between the Total Revenue (TR) and Total Variable Costs (TVC) 

Mathematically;  

GMi = TRi - TVCi…………………………………………………………………………….... (1)   

Where;             GMi  = Gross margin at point i (in TShs)

TRi    = Total revenue at point i (in TShs)

TVCi = Total Variable costs at point i (in TShs)

i = represent points along the supply chain such as production, un-fattened cattle trading, Beef cattle fattening, cattle slaughtering and meat selling 

TR in this case was the summation of the number of cattle sold (N) times their corresponding selling price (P) 

TR=∑₁ⁿNxP_s…………………………………………………………………………………... (2)

Where; TR =Total Revenue as defined above

             N   =Number of cattle sold

             P_s    =Selling price 

In the case of butcher owners, the same equation (2) was applied where N stands for number of cattle slaughtered and the price per kilogram of meat sold.  Also equation 2 was used to calculate the variable costs where N stands for the quantity of inputs used multiplied by the cost price.  For comparison purposes, the Gross Margins per head for Agro-pastoralists/Pastoralist, Traders, Beef cattle fattening operators and Butcher owners were calculated. 

The cost for Pastoralist/Agro-pastoralist who sell lean cattle to cattle fattening Traders included-labour, drugs, dipping and trekking costs.   Meanwhile the beef cattle traders incur cost in relation to: buying the animals, market fees, permits, transportation, labour and food.  In addition they also buy; supplementary feeds water and salt.   In the case of Butcher owners they incur cost for buying cattle, market fee, permit fee, transportation, holding pens, slaughtering fee, and payment for meat sellers.    

Results and Discussion

Livestock marketing in the study area

The study revealed that, there were 14 and 16 operating livestock markets in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions respectively.   Out of these, Kishapu and Nyamhongolo were the largest and the only secondary markets, handling about 10,000 cattle per month on average and up to 15,000 cattle during the peak marketing season in September to December.  The secondary market in Kishapu operated once per week while Nyamhongolo secondary market operated 6 days per week. These Markets were connected to the Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS) where the number of livestock marketed; grades and prices were recorded and reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for compilation and information dissemination.  Other livestock marketing infrastructure found in the regions included: Cattle Dips, Slaughter Houses, Veterinary Shops and Butcheries as presented in Table 1.

Livestock marketing channels and trends

There existed two supply channels for terminal domestic beef cattle markets in the study area.   The first involved a direct channel where traders bought beef cattle from producers (Pastoralists and Agro pastoralists) at primary markets and sold at profit to butcher operators.  The second involved some value addition where beef cattle fattening operators bought cattle from producers or cattle traders at primary and secondary markets.  In either case, the cattle were kept in feedlots for about three months as reported by 93.4% of the respondents and thereafter sold to live animal exporters or to local butcher operators through livestock markets after the animals had gained weight or reconditioned.  Livestock processing industries were found to be not well developed as it is the case for the whole country (MLD 2006, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development-MLFD 2010).

The livestock marketing trend at Kishapu market in Shinyanga region for the five years from 2006 to 2010 is positive showing increase in unit price per cattle sold during the period (Figure 5).  Grade II and III were the most common categories sold at the markets with an average price of TShs. 323,112 and 174,223 respectively.   The increase in unit price for livestock marketing in Mwanza region was insignificant for the same period (Figure 6).   Just as is the case with Shinyanga region, grade II and III were the most common categories sold at the markets, with an average nominal price of TShs. 354,384 and 216,901 respectively.   Price for both grade II and III was higher in Shinyanga region at Kishapu livestock market by 4.6 and 10.7 percent respectively when compared to the same grades in Mwanza region at Nyamhongolo livestock market.   This indicated that Kishapu market was more competitive than similar markets in Mwanza region.

Grade I cattle were rarely sold in both regions because it was rarely produced due to the poor animal husbandry practices.  Moreover, sometimes producers did not sell animals of higher grades as they would prefer to keep such animals as their live banks for storing wealth. Analysis of data for this study show that 58.9 percent of the livestock marketed in Mwanza and Shinyanga regions were sold to Pugu secondary market in Dar es Salaam.   Table 2 shows the markets where beef cattle are sold.

Beef cattle supply chain actors

By definition, beef cattle actors are those individuals, businesses or organizations involved in producing, processing, trading or consuming a particular agricultural product (Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) et al 2006).   They include direct actors who are commercially involved in the chain (producers, traders, retailers, and consumers) and indirect actors who provide financial or non financial support services, such as banks and credit agencies, business service providers, government, researchers and extensions.   The primary actors in the beef cattle supply chain were observed to include beef cattle producers (Pastoralists and Agro pastoralists), Traders that include Beef cattle fattening operators, Middlemen, Butcheries, Retailers and Consumers.   All these actors play different roles interacting with each other to supply beef to the final consumers.   Interactions among the various beef cattle sub sector actors in the study area lead to the beef cattle sub sector Map in the regions as shown in figure 7 below.

Beef cattle producers (Pastoralists and Agro-pastoralists)

Beef cattle producers included both pastoralist and agro pastoralist who kept about 97.3 percent of cattle found in the country (NSCA, 2007/2008).   The remaining 2.7 percent was for improved dairy (2.4 percent) and beef breeds (0.3 percent) kept by government and private commercial ranches.  The beef cattle producers played a vital role in the beef sub sector as they played the primary function of raising beef cattle up to the point where they were sold and taken to the next level of the supply chain.  The producers invested in animal health, nutrition and reproduction.   According to the National Sample Census of Agriculture, 2007/2008 reports, there were 261 875 and 145 461 beef cattle producers in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions respectively, mostly agro pastoralist who account for 97.3 percent of all the cattle owners in the nation.

Traders

Traders in the beef cattle supply chain in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions were involved in purchasing cattle from pastoralist and or agro pastoralist through the primary markets (97.6 percent) or directly from cattle producers with the purpose of reselling in other auctions at higher prices or selling to the butcheries (2.4 percent).  Two types of traders were identified in the study area.  The first type involved traders who bought healthy and heavy animals from producers and re-sold to other cattle buyers including butcher operators at secondary markets or other niche markets.  Second, there were another category of traders, termed fattening entrepreneurs, specifically bought weak animals or semi finished animals from the markets for the a purpose of fattening (adding value) or finishing for at least three months as reported by 93.4 percent of the respondents before reselling to the livestock markets for local consumption or export.    Animals for fattening were normally purchased at a lower prices ranging from 279190 to 433096 Tanzanian shillings (TSh) ($1= TShs. 1600) for uncastrated bulls, which later were sold at 553012 to 740000 shillings per piece after fattening. 

Butchers and consumers

The category of Butcher operators involved all actors who bought animals from the primary or secondary markets for immediate slaughter.  They played an important role in the livestock sub-sector as they link producers and consumers through livestock traders. They did this by converting the livestock into an edible form that was acceptable to consumers.  There were about 207 and 229 butcheries in the Shinyanga and Mwanza regions respectively. 

Retailers and middlemen

Retailers were those actors involved in buying carcasses from slaughter houses or butcheries and distributed them to supermarkets and other meat shops.  In the study area, these actors   were not found to be prominent.  Another category involved Middlemen who were involved in buying and selling animals at the same location.  Normally, they took advantage of time and ignorance as they could buy an animal from one seller and immediately sale to another trader at a profit.  As is the case with retailers, middlemen in the study area were not found to be prominent in the study area.   

Service providers

Service providers in the study area included the stockists who supplied drugs and acaricides like super dips, ginners who own ginneries that produced animal feed ingredients such as cotton seed cake and cotton husks, and government institutions that provided extension services.  Extension service provision was found to be inadequate due to few extension staff in the study area.  It was evident during field visits for this study that, coordination and collaboration among these actors was not well developed.

Relationships and linkages between and among beef cattle actors

The relationships in the beef cattle supply chain existed between different process steps and within the same process step.   The results indicated that spot market relations were the most common in the study area. There were no persistent network relationships or contracts practiced among actors or between actors with service providers.   Interactions only involved making transactions such as negotiations on price and volumes of animals. Buyers and sellers met and came to an agreement or sometimes they did not reach an agreement.   Once the negotiation failed or a deal was closed, the relationship ended and only resumed when there was need to sell or buy another stock of animals.  This was described as an arm’s length relationships where there are no formal contracts.   This kind of relationship confirmed that beef cattle value chain was underdeveloped.  The absence of collaboration among the actors minimizes the chain actors’ potential to improve their business and hence increase their income.  However, the emerging category of beef cattle fattening entrepreneurs in the study area seemed to be a good starting point for forging a working relationship among actors in the beef supply chain so that it evolves towards a vibrant value chain.     A value chain is defined as a linkage between actors who transfer or exchange goods, capital or knowledge with binding relationships (KIT et al 2006), while a supply chain has been defined as a set of linkages between actors where there are no binding or sought-after formal or informal relationship, except when the goods, services and financial agreements are actually transacted (KIT et al 2006, Wim 2004).  A value chain is therefore a specific type of supply chain where the actors actively seek to support each other so that they can increase their efficiency and competitiveness which was not the case in the supply chain as found in the study area.   Actors in a value chain invest time, effort and money to build relationships with other actors in order to reach a common goal of satisfying consumer needs in their effort to increase each actor’s profit (KIT et al 2006).    

Beef cattle value addition in the lake zone

The study results show that mature animals of age ranging between 4 to 10 years were most common in the feedlots.  These animals were fed plant by-products for an average of 3 months as reported by 93.4% of the respondents in order to add weight before they were sold.  The by-products used to feed animals include: cotton husks, cotton seed cake, sunflower cake, rice polish, maize bran and salts mixed in different rations.   In the business of beef cattle fattening, age of an animal is an important factor as it is highly correlated with the level of profit accruing to the producer.  According to the Guide to backyard cattle raising and fattening 2009, the animals’ age has a direct bearing on the quality of beef produced.  Two to three years-old animals need less feed for every unit of weight gain because they digest more efficiently and consume larger volume of feed in proportion to body weight.  Moreover, younger animals cost less because of lesser weight.  However, they require longer period of feeding and higher feed quality to reach the desired finish.   Meanwhile, older feeder stock (4 years and above) need less time in the feedlot and will eat a wider variety of feed and roughage than young stock.  If nutritious feed is abundant, younger cattle are generally more economical to fatten (Guide to backyard cattle raising and fattening 2009). If only roughage and plant by-products are available, older stock are preferable. 

In Shinyanga regions, beef cattle fattening started much earlier around 1994, but more recent in Mwanza region where it started in 2007.   This practice has led to higher demand of animal feeds such as cotton seed cake and cotton husks.  Previously, cotton husks were disposed as a waste and could therefore be obtained free of charge, but now this has become a popular input into the beef fattening business where the prices of these feeds increase every year and sometimes it is not available because it was reported to be exported to neighbouring countries of Kenya and Uganda for the purpose which is not yet known.   Table 3 shows price changes for beef cattle fattening feeds for the period of 2010 and 2011 as reported during the survey period while figure 8a show  offloading of cotton seed cake at the fattening area, while figure 8b show animals that are feeding on cotton husks and figure 8c show fattened finished animals ready for sale.

 

Beef cattle actor’s gross margins

Pastoralist and Agro pastoralist

Pastoralists and agro pastoralist usually keep livestock for several years before selling them; they only sell when the need arises. It was reported that cattle are kept for 5 to 7 years and sometimes more before they are sold.   Their costs of keeping livestock include; labour, medication, dipping services, and trekking costs to the selling point.  Table 4 presents the gross margins for Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist computed for one animal.  These have been computed based on average data provided by 401 respondents in the study area. 

Analysis in Table 4 shows that the sale price of cattle at 300 kg live weight gives a margin of TShs 284800 equivalent to 71 percent of the value of sales, while the sale of cattle at 200 kg live weight gives a gross margin of TShs. 242400 which is 81% of the sales value, relatively higher, indicating that returns are higher if cattle are kept for shorter periods.  The Cost was lower (TShs 57600) compared to the total cost for six years (TShs. 115200).  Drugs and medications were the highest cost item, accounting for about 52.1% of the total cost.  This was followed by labour (20.8%) and trekking cost (20.8%).  Dipping or spraying to control parasites was the least cost accounting to about 6.3% of the total cost.  

The survey results shows that the pastoralist and agro pastoralists do not add value to their animals before selling and they normally sale mature animals of 6 years old and above. This result support findings by Mapiye et al (2007) who found that there were little or no efforts to add value to the existing Nguni cattle products by farmers in South Africa.  Sarma and Ahmed (2011) in their findings also found that three years old cattle were used for fattening in Rajbari district in Bangladesh instead of mature animals.  This means that farmers in the study area need to be sensitized to sell animals for fattening at young age. 

Beef cattle traders

Livestock trading provides liquidity to pastoralists as well as serving as livestock outlets.    Livestock traders incur several costs in the process.  These include market fees, trekking costs (herder’s wages, food, and transport), livestock movement permits, feeds, treatment and transport to secondary markets.  Table 5 shows the costs, revenue and margin for cattle trading for both fattened and non fattened beef cattle.

It was evident that cattle traders who did not engage in fattening had gross margins of TShs. 57500, which is equivalent to 11.5 percent of the total value of sale.  The cost of purchasing cattle was the most significant (90.4%) followed by transportation cost at about 6.78 %  of the total cost, the remaining cost were insignificant being less than one percent.   When traders engaged in adding value through fattening they earned a margin of Tshs. 141,400 per head of cattle, which is 20.2 percent of the sale value almost twice as much as the gross margin without fattening.  As was the case with traders of non-fattened cattle, the purchasing price of cattle from secondary markets took up the highest share of the total cost (71.6%).  Supplementary feeds were also significant being 17.9 percent of the total cost.  

Butcher owners

As was the case for Traders, the major cost for butcher operators came from purchase of beef cattle which represented about 94.3 percent of the total cost for the sample followed by Labour or wage for butcher operators (1.9 percent). The rest of the cost items were insignificant being less than one percent each as shown in Table 6.

Comparison of  beef cattle fattening operator’s margins (20.2%) with those obtained by pastoralist and agro pastoralist (71%) , reveals that the beef cattle fattening operators earned higher margins due to their production cycle as they could run 3 fattening cycles in a year of three months each, while pastoralist could only sell an animal after six or more years.

Challenges and opportunities along the beef cattle supply chain

The performance and effectiveness of the beef supply chain depended on the various factors that affected the supply chain actors through different channels.  These factors may impose constraints or establish opportunities that have bearings on the performance of the livestock supply chain.  The survey results on one hand as reported by beef cattle fattening operators indicated that high prices of fattening feeds was the leading challenge (27.7%) followed by availability of credits to expand fattening enterprises (16.6%),  Area for conducting  fattening (16.2%), and availability of feed stuff (22.6%).  The results in the present study support findings by Alemayehu K (2011), Petrus et al (2011) and Moreki et al, (2011) who found high prices and availability of feeds to be the most challenge faced beef cattle fattening enterprises.  Although,  Umar et al (2008) reported that the economic viability of cattle fattening enterprises was not in doubt because raw materials needed for fattening could be sourced at ease, but the availability of credit was the challenge facing smallholder producers when fattening.  On the other hand the results reported by agro-pastoralists and pastoralist indicated that lack of fattening skills or low level of education to start fattening business was the leading challenge (22.6%), followed by other challenges as reported by beef cattle fatteners such as availability of credits (20.4%), high costs of fattening (17%), availability of feeds (14.2%) and area for fattening (12.4%).  Other challenges were insignificant, being less than 5% as shown in Table 7.

The opportunities for beef cattle fattening included; availability of market outlets  for fattened beef cattle as indicated by demand and high gross margins (20.2%), availability of feeder cattle for fattening as shown by 55.1% of the respondents who preferred to sell mature animals (Table 8), and the agro-pastoralist and pastoralist awareness about beef cattle fattening (95.5%) was an opportunity to expand beef cattle fattening enterprises in the study area and later in the country for economic growth.  Result in Table 9 indicates that 82.5% of the agro pastoralist and pastoralist respondents were willing to start fattening whereas only 14.5% had already started beef cattle fattening business.  Other challenges and opportunities observed during the survey impacting on the livestock supply chain in the study area related to inputs, production, attitudes, processing, marketing and finances are summarised in Table 10.

 

Conclusion

• The beef cattle supply chain in the study area was under-developed and it was characterized by low value addition among the pastoralists and high value addition among the beef cattle fatteners.  

• Considering the production cycle, the gross margins for beef cattle fattening operators were higher than for the agro-pastoralist and pastoralist.  

• There were challenges impacting the beef cattle supply chain in the study area, which included high prices of fattening feeds, limited availability of credits to expand fattening enterprises, no designated area for conducting fattening, unreliable supply of feed stuff,  lack of improved fattening skills/education,  poor linkages and low collaboration among and between the actors in the chain.  Despite all these shortcomings, there are also opportunities to expand and improve beef cattle supply chain and foster economic growth both at the local and national level. These include; provision of market for fattened beef cattle, improving the availability of feeder cattle, improving the agro-pastoralist and pastoralist awareness on beef cattle fattening and their willingness to participate in the chain. These can be used to expand and improve the precursor beef cattle fattening enterprises, pioneered by few enterprising innovative traders into a vibrant value chain that makes meaningful contribution to improving cash income of many households who depend on livestock keeping for their livelihoods.

Recommendations

Based on the results discussed above, a number of recommendations for improving beef cattle supply chain are made as follows.

• Improve farmers’ skills through training so that they are able to produce higher volumes and more consistent quality of beef that is better suited to the market requirements. Becoming a beef cattle specialist is a necessary first step before any other form of chain development like investing in processing or self chain partnerships can be advanced.

• Upgrade the beef cattle supply chain to a vibrant value chain by supporting the evolution of collaboration and binding linkages among actors.  The beef cattle fattening provides the opportunity for doing this if the government or other development agencies such as Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) collaborates to facilitate and guide the transformation.   Production of feeds to be emphasized as a specialised activity where actors are well coordinated by improving relations among them (market linkages among the actors).  A business model for an improved beef cattle supply chain for fattened beef is suggested in figure 9. 

• Improve enabling environment. Policies and regulations related to beef cattle fattening to be improved and put into use. Extension services should be improved especially on the number of staff to cover a wider range.