Efficiency Analysis of the Food and Beverage Industry in Tanzania: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined the performance of food and beverage industries in Tanzania in terms of productive and technical efficiency. The specific objectives of the study were to evaluate the productive efficiency performance of food and beverage industries in Tanzania, to determine the level and trend of efficiency of food and beverage of food and beverage industry in Tanzania, and to assess the levels of productive efficiency performance in the food and beverage subsectors in Tanzania Methodology: The study used secondary data to achieve its objectives. The study employed a Panel data analysis technique using 40 companies in the manufacturing sector over a period of three years, 2018-2020. A stochastic frontier production model was applied using a linearized Translog production function to determine the performance elasticity coefficients of inputs and technical efficiency. The study used production theory advanced by Koutsoyiannis (1979) to explain the relatonship between input and output factors. Findings: One of the key findings was that the level and trend of efficiency in food and beverage industry demonstrated an upward trend for the period between 2018 and 2020 as evidenced by the changes in average in both food and beverage sub-sector which grew from 0.776 in 2018 to 0.7557 in 2019 and finally to 0.7746 in 2020. Another finding of the study was that, the individual productive efficiency distribution between food and beverage sub-sector revealed that beverage sub-sector performs much better than food sub-sectors, with an average technical efficiency of 77.85% and 81.36% for both food and beverage sub-sectors, respectively. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study’s unique contributions to theory include its assessment of efficiency levels, analysis of efficiency trends, and exploration of sector-specific variations. Its practical contributions encompass policy recommendations, guidance on modernization and technology adoption, and the importance of skills development and export promotion. These insights have direct implications for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and practitioners in Tanzania's food and beverage sector, aiding in the formulation of effective strategies to enhance efficiency and competitiveness. The study recommends that the government and other stakeholders comes up with policy reforms to address the underlying factors contributing to the underutilization of each firm’s production capacity. This includes reforming the input market in the manufacturing sector in order to increase the level of efficiency to 100%. There should be establishment of an efficient marketing mechanism that reduces the involvement of many parties in the supply chain and hence high transaction costs.