Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol Making decisions without reliable information: The struggle of local traders in the pastoral meat supply chain Guyo M. Roba a,b, ⁎ , Margareta A. Lelea a,b , Oliver Hensel b , Brigitte Kaufmann a,c a German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL), Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany b Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhoftsrasse 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany c Social Ecology of Tropical and Subtropical Land-Use Systems, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Pastoralists Traders Market information Value chain Goats Northern Kenya ABSTRACT In Sub-Saharan Africa, arid and semi-arid rangelands are mainly used by pastoral communities for livestock production. In northern Kenya, these communities predominantly sell sheep and goats to local traders who connect them to different markets. This pastoral livestock supply chain is characterized by inadequate market information, without which it is difficult to improve the coordination of seller–buyer activities. This paper examines the information needs and constraints of producers and different categories of traders. Semi-structured and narrative interviews were conducted with 15 producers and 26 traders. Results revealed the particular information needs of traders; such as the range of prices in different markets, the extent of competition, grades of animals in high demand and further animal specifications. However, market information tended to change within a short time-span. Analysis of weekly prices for different grades revealed high price variability such that prices were only known on the market day. This unpredictability made it difficult for traders to improve prices offered to pastoral producers. We recommend strengthening relations of local traders to meat processors and wholesalers that structure information exchange so that they can make better decisions to improve their mar- gins. 1. Introduction In Africa, 43% of the land is arid and semi-arid, used for livestock production (Koohafkan and Stewart, 2008). In Sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 50 million pastoralists rely on this land for their livelihoods (IIRR, 2014; Rass, 2006). Assessment of pastoralism’s contribution to national economies revealed that it contributes over 35% of the agri- cultural GDP in Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia (COMESA, 2009). Despite this significant contribution, pastoralist’s livestock marketing has not been accorded priority in policy (Hatfield and Davies, 2007), budgetary allocations (Alushula, 2016) and institutional support (Otieno, 2008). In Kenya, the long-term absence of a comprehensive livestock marketing policy has set the stage for minimal investments in mar- keting infrastructure and limited coordination among investments. The first statutes relevant to livestock marketing in the post-independence era were the Meat Control Act of 1977 (cap 356), the Animal Diseases Act of 1984 (cap 364) and the Crop and Livestock Production Act of 1977 (cap 321), revised in 2012. Although aspects of marketing were incorporated into the National Livestock Policy; sessional paper No. 2 of 2008, it does not specifically detail (i) ways to streamline livestock marketing investments, and (ii) integration of livestock producers in value chains. Only in 2016, did parliament pass the Livestock and Livestock Product Marketing Bill which established the Kenya Livestock and Livestock Products Development and Marketing Board tasked with spearheading market research and development for the sector. The approach outlined in the “Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS), 2010–2020” places emphasis on improving market access by supporting livestock marketing groups, building market structures and strengthening associated infrastructure such as market information systems (Republic of Kenya, 2010, p. 42). Moreover, many counties within arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya have been investing in abat- toirs to target high-value livestock export markets, mostly to Middle Eastern countries. A recent example of such an investment is the con- struction of an abattoir in Marsabit County (worth 3.8 million USD) commissioned jointly by national and county governments in 2014 (Otieno, 2014). Promoting livestock trade is a core aim of the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), although the scale of its activities has gra- dually declined over the last decade, attributed, in large part, to mis- management (Ringa, 2013). Despite these interventions, pastoralists still face the problem of low https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.01.013 Received 10 April 2017; Received in revised form 1 December 2017; Accepted 29 January 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL), Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany. E-mail address: guyo.roba@ditsl.org (G.M. Roba). Food Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 0306-9192/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Roba, G., Food Policy (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.01.013