VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF DRY FISH IN MASSIMPUR, SYLHET

Abstract

The present study was conducted for six months from July to December 2014 at Massimpur Bazaar Dry Fish Market in Sylhet district of Bangladesh to evaluate the value chain of dried fish products. Six hundred bepari, 17 aratdar, 270 wholesaler and 90 retailer shops were found in the market. Among them a total of 70 dried fish traders were selected randomly and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The net profit of bepari, aratdar, wholesaler and reatailer were 5.98, 6.26, 7.30, 8.10 Tk/kg respectively. Thirty five species of dried fish were found in the market during the study period. It was found that high priced fish demanded high marketing cost resulting higher marketing margin and profit compared to low-priced fish. The price of dried fish was depent on the size, availability, transport, labor and season. The most abundant species was Phaisa (19.32%) followed by Shol (5.21%) and Gozar (4.78%). Five marketing channels were found that comprise asset of intermediaries including producers/processors, beparies/mohajons, aratdars, wholesalers and retailers. Involvement of more intermediaries in the marketing channel was the only reason of increasing product price. A number of constraints were reported by wholesalers and retailers of dry fish, including rapid damage of dry fishes, lack of proper hygienic condition, high transaction costs, lack of capitals for trading and lack of marketing infrastructure, transportation and storage facilities. The study revealed that the marketing system of dried fish is traditional and substantial improvement could be possible in various stages of marketing to ensure better products to the consumers at a reasonable price.