IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jbusin/v2y2022i2p14-213d814551.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Fish Markets in Central Malawi Profitable and Efficient? Performance of Diploxatodon spp. (Ndunduma) Markets in Salima and Lilongwe Districts

Author

Listed:
  • Wedson Phiri

    (Department of Agribusiness Management, Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources (LUANAR), Lilongwe P.O. Box 219, Malawi)

  • Moses Limuwa

    (Aquaculture & Fisheries Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources (LUANAR), Lilongwe P.O. Box 219, Malawi)

  • Joseph Dzanja

    (Department of Agribusiness Management, Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources (LUANAR), Lilongwe P.O. Box 219, Malawi)

Abstract

The production of underexploited small fish species has surpassed that of bigger and more valuable species, such as Oreochromis species . However, profitability and efficiency of the key players in the marketing chain and system associated with these small fish species are yet to be understood. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the profitability and efficiency of Diplotaxodon spp. (an example of a small fish species) fish marketing systems in Malawi. The analysis was based on data collected in 2019 through field surveys from 265 respondents, which included fishers, processors, wholesalers, and retailers. Gross margin, return on capital employed (ROCE), and the Acharya and Agarwal’s market efficiency index were used in our empirical strategy. The results reveal that Diplotaxodon spp. trading was profitable to all actors. Firm-level efficiency showed that all actors used their capital efficiently, except for fishers, who had lowest return on capital employed, while retailers had the highest return on capital employed. All marketing channels identified were inefficient, due to high marketing margins and low fisher’s share of the consumer price, attributed to high transportation cost. The study concludes that, unless efforts are taken to improve efficiency of Ndunduma marketing system, through improving marketing margins and fisher’s share of consumer price, Diplotaxodon spp. will continue to be under-exploited, thereby sustaining or exacerbating the fish supply gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Wedson Phiri & Moses Limuwa & Joseph Dzanja, 2022. "Are Fish Markets in Central Malawi Profitable and Efficient? Performance of Diploxatodon spp. (Ndunduma) Markets in Salima and Lilongwe Districts," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-13, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jbusin:v:2:y:2022:i:2:p:14-213:d:814551
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7116/2/2/14/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7116/2/2/14/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chiwaula, L. & Jamu, D. & Chaweza, R. & Nagoli, J., 2012. "The Structure and margins of the Lake Chilwa fisheries in Malawi: a value chain analysis," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 39912, April.
    2. Torell, Elin C. & Jamu, Daniel M. & Kanyerere, Geoffrey Z. & Chiwaula, Levison & Nagoli, Joseph & Kambewa, Patrick & Brooks, Alan & Freeman, Peter, 2020. "Assessing the economic impacts of post-harvest fisheries losses in Malawi," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elin Torell & Chikondi Manyungwa-Pasani & Danielle Bilecki & Innocent Gumulira & Gordon Yiwombe, 2021. "Assessing and Advancing Gender Equity in Lake Malawi’s Small-Scale Fisheries Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Nkhoswe, James & Bader, Sumeya & Nyauchi, Elizabeth & Lemma, Yordanos & Ong’ondo, Geoffrey & Geremew, Akewake, 2023. "Sustainability of the Sub-Saharan African Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chains: A Review of the Roles and Challenges of Youths and Women in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(12), pages 1643-1674, December.
    3. Rodgers Makwinja & Ishmael Bobby Mphangwe Kosamu & Chikumbusko Chiziwa Kaonga, 2019. "Determinants and Values of Willingness to Pay for Water Quality Improvement: Insights from Chia Lagoon, Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-26, August.
    4. Torell, Elin C. & Jamu, Daniel M. & Kanyerere, Geoffrey Z. & Chiwaula, Levison & Nagoli, Joseph & Kambewa, Patrick & Brooks, Alan & Freeman, Peter, 2020. "Assessing the economic impacts of post-harvest fisheries losses in Malawi," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    5. Levison S. Chiwaula & Gowokani Chijere Chirwa & Lucy S. Binauli & James Banda & Joseph Nagoli, 2018. "Gender differences in willingness to pay for capital-intensive agricultural technologies: the case of fish solar tent dryers in Malawi," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Klara Strecker & Verena Bitzer & Froukje Kruijssen, 2022. "Critical stages for post-harvest losses and nutrition outcomes in the value chains of bush beans and nightshade in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 411-426, April.
    7. Daniel M. Jamu & Elin C. Torell & Essau Chisale, 2023. "Community-Managed Fish Sanctuaries for Freshwater Fishery Biodiversity Conservation and Productivity in Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, March.
    8. Alexander Michael Kaminski & Steven Michael Cole & Robin Elizabeth Al Haddad & Alexander Shula Kefi & Alex Dennis Chilala & Gethings Chisule & Kelvin Ntaswila Mukuka & Catherine Longley & Shwu Jiau Te, 2020. "Fish Losses for Whom? A Gendered Assessment of Post-Harvest Losses in the Barotse Floodplain Fishery, Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Béné, Christophe & Arthur, Robert & Norbury, Hannah & Allison, Edward H. & Beveridge, Malcolm & Bush, Simon & Campling, Liam & Leschen, Will & Little, David & Squires, Dale & Thilsted, Shakuntala H. &, 2016. "Contribution of Fisheries and Aquaculture to Food Security and Poverty Reduction: Assessing the Current Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 177-196.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jbusin:v:2:y:2022:i:2:p:14-213:d:814551. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.