Mercy Mbugua, Jason Donovan, Pieter Rutsaert, Harish Gandhi, Mark Nas, Noel Templer, Kauê de Sousa, Harriet Mawia, Chris Ojiewo, Lilian Gichuru, Emmanuel Mwenda 
CIMMYT
Sorghum market segments: What are farmers’ needs for seed products in Tanzania? 
Motivation
The Tanzania Sorghum product development team (PDT) highlights two main criteria for defining sorghum market segments
Material type (hybrid versus OPV) and colour (white/cream versus red/brown)
Each market segment as well as the TPP focuses on traits addressing all potential uses: food, feed, fodder, malting, and assumes monocropping systems
There are big questions within the TPP on primary sorghum end-use (i.e. trait prioritization), color preferences and the importance of production systems. 
Research Questions
Do farmers require products that meet a host of possible end uses (e.g., food, feed, fodder, and malting) or are their requirements more focused on one or two end uses?
In what colour do farmers require the sorghum for different uses? 
Is intercropping an important consideration?
Conclusions and Future Research
The results support discussions on refinements to sorghum segmentation: 
The hybrid segment should be prioritized
New segments : home use, intercropping, food and fodder, food and feed 
The forage segment should be maintained as a future market segment. 
Conversations with farmers, processors, and food scientists to understand
What traits determine “good taste” and “good cooking qualities” for home use
How best to measure these traits. 
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Systems in Africa (AVISA) project and the One-CGIAR initiative Market Intelligence, supported through the CGIAR Fund. 
Process and steps to design sorghum concepts
Data Results and Findings
Overall acceptability  of product concepts of sorghum presented to farmers in Tanzania


2 weeks fieldwork with TARI



PDT meeting  Sorghum TZ



Design 1



Internal team review



Inputs breeding / seed system teams



Design 2



Internal review



Design 3



Breeding team 2nd review



TARI review



Final design

	Product concept	Grower or end-use requirements and constraints
	1. Food for family	Designed for food; nutrition, high flour conversion, good taste, cooks easily
20% reduction in yield
	2. Feed and food	Grains optimized for livestock feed and human food
Less attention given to cooking qualities
	3. Grain for beer	designed for industrial beer-making  
For income purposes only (not for food/feed)
	4. Forage	Stems and leaves optimized for livestock feed
No grain production
	5. Food and fodder	Provides grain for food and soft and big leaves for livestock feed
Less attention is given to cooking qualities
	6. Sorghum and peas	Optimized for intercropping with legume
Increased cost of management and harvest
	7. Hybrid	30% increase in yields
Increased cost of buying seed every season

Methods

Sorghum seed product concepts
	Tanzania: Dodoma and Shinyanga regions
Survey: 1100 farmers interviewed
Video-based product concept testing approach








Preferred color for different concepts

Red/brown	Feed and Food	Food for Family	Grain for Beer	Food and Fodder	Sorghum and Peas	High-yielding Hybrid	27.12	23.14	50.11	25.9	24.79	26.48	White/cream	Feed and Food	Food for Family	Grain for Beer	Food and Fodder	Sorghum and Peas	High-yielding Hybrid	72.88	76.86	49.89	74.099999999999994	75.209999999999994	73.52	
Proportion of farmers




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