The Analysis of Local Brewing and Its Contribution towards Asset Ownership in Rural Tanzania: A Case of Ulanda Ward

Abstract

This study examined local brewing as a household-based rural enterprise and analysed its association with asset ownership in Ulanda Ward, Iringa District, Tanzania, using a cross-sectional mixed-methods design and a survey of 96 brewer households. Three principal beverages were identified—Komoni, Uhambule, and Kangara—and they differed significantly in raw-material intensity, process design, and economic returns, supporting the argument that traditional brewing is not a homogeneous activity in Tanzania. Komoni generated the highest mean monthly profit (TZS 251,100), Uhambule recorded the highest profit margin (77.3%), and Kangara occupied a higher-price niche with a mean selling price of TZS 1,000 per litre. Regression results Monthly net profit (B = .524, p < .001), access to credit (B = .458, p < .001), scale of operation (B = .318, p < .001), years of experience (B = .226, p = .001), education level (B = .194, p = .004), and secondary occupation (B = .142, p = .016) were positively associated with higher asset ownership scores, while gender and household size showed negative coefficients. The study concludes that local brewing contributes to financial capital, physical capital, and indirectly to social reproduction. Yet the strength of that contribution depends on enterprise profitability, market access, institutional conditions, and household endowments of capability, as emphasised in contemporary SLF applications. This, therefore, argues for a more analytically differentiated and policy-sensitive understanding of local brewing as part of rural livelihood diversification in Tanzania.