The Novel Factors for Profitability and Viability for Ponds’ Tilapia Farming in Coastal Region of Tanzania

Abstract

The study examined the profitability and the present factors for Tilapia production in Tanzania. A purposive sampling technique used to obtain a total of 92 Tilapia farming households from 120 farming communities provided by the Tanzania government. Primary data are collected through the use of a structured questionnaire and analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The Gross Margin tool used to calculate the profitability of the semi-intensive tilapia pond fish farming. The Ordinary Least Squares regression used to determine the novel factors affecting the profitability and Net Present Values determined the viability of tilapia pond farming, respectively. The descriptive findings have revealed that the majority of tilapia farmers had a mean age of 39 years, while male respondents dominated tilapia farming. Among the costs, the feed cost contributed about 73% of the total cost indicating that feeds availability is among the prominent challenge for tilapia farming. The Gross margin obtained by the respondents was averagely 21.7%. The regression analysis has revealed that the cost of feeds, stocking density and the size of seed significantly affected the accrued pond tilapia profit negatively. The result from the Present Net Value was negative; thus, concludes that the current tilapia pond fish farming is not worthy in the study area.