Tanzania is one of the largest sorghum producers in Eastern and Southern Africa and the seventh largest producer globally. In the past decade, sorghum production in Tanzania has been expanding due to a growing export market. To better serve the requirements of this growing market, breeding and market intelligence teams work together with different stakeholders to better target breeding pipelines. This is done through bringing together a Tanzania sorghum product design team (PDT), a group of representatives from public and private sectors that informs seed product market segment (SPMS) and target product profile (TPP) design. The PDT includes farmer representatives, processors, and seed companies as well as scientists such as breeders, pathologists, seed systems specialists, and the market intelligence team.
The sorghum PDT came together in June 2023 to define and prioritize the market segments in Tanzania. The discussions highlighted material type (hybrid versus open-pollinated variety, or OPV) and color (white/cream versus red/brown) as the main criteria for defining sorghum market segments. This led to several questions for discussion with PDT on farmers’ requirements for sorghum seed products considering other criteria such as end use and the production systems:
- End use: 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. The latter would allow for more feasible TPPs with few essential traits.
- Color: In what color do farmers require the sorghum for different uses? Prioritization of different uses should include color considerations.
- Production systems: TPPs are designed considering a monoculture production system. Do farmers grow sorghum under monoculture or intercropping cropping systems? If the latter, then this would imply the need to add a market segment that recognizes intercropping production systems.
The value of having a market intelligence research team present during these workshops is that it can dive into the questions breeding teams have and design new research methods to provide answers and help prioritization in breeding directions. In December 2023, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) carried out a survey involving 1,100 households in Tanzania, including a concept testing study to answer the previous questions, leading to these recommendations for sorghum breeding programs:
- End use is an important criterion when defining sorghum market segments. For instance, “home use” (food for the family) is a priority market segment. Conversations with farmers, processors, and food scientists are required to better understand what traits determine “good taste” and “good cooking qualities” for home use and how best to measure these traits.
- White sorghum varieties should be prioritized. White color is a must-have requirement for most national and regional markets and is also considered to provide better-tasting sorghum-based foods.
- A forage sorghum segment is not currently a priority in Tanzania.
- Most farmers intercrop sorghum with other crops. A near-term future market segment was identified for a sorghum seed product that is optimal when intercropped with legumes.
- A strong preference exists for sorghum hybrids seed products; therefore, there is a need for increased investment in breeding and seed systems of hybrid sorghum seed.
The results support discussions on refinements to sorghum segmentation. The hybrid segment should be prioritized, while the following new segments should be considered: home use and intercropping. The forage segment should be maintained as a future market segment.
Product concept testing conducted by the team has provided very clear and specific recommendations. These recommendations are immediately useful in refining the focus of breeding pipelines further and emphasizing areas of sorghum breeding for Tanzania. (Harish Gandhi, Breeding Lead, Dryland Legumes and Cereals, CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources program in Kenya)
For more information on the concept testing study design and analysis, please see the Market Intelligence Brief “Farmers’ requirements for sorghum seed products in Tanzania.” https://hdl.handle.net/10883/34683