Enhancing Service Quality in Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies: A Case Study of two Districts, Tanzania

Abstract

In both the corporate and public service sectors, offering high-quality services has grown in importance. Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS), as public companies, are required to give excellent services to its members. This research aims to examine service quality and farmer satisfaction with the service offered by AMCOS in Kilombero and Mvomero districts, Tanzania. The research particularly examined the quality of services given by AMCOS in relation to member satisfaction. Lastly, the research examined the degree of members’ satisfaction with the services given by AMCOS. The study utilised a cross-sectional research strategy wherein 189 members of AMCOS were interviewed. Data processing and analysis were guided by the servqual Model. Through the approach, five aspects (tangible, dependability, responsiveness assurance, and empathy) were examined to determine the gap that exists between perception and expectation of the service supplied by AMCOS. The results indicated that Tangible was the most inadequate dimension of service quality supplied by AMCOS, and the total service quality or customer satisfaction score was 54%, suggesting that more needs to be done to enhance the quality of services. On the degree of satisfaction, the majority of the members were less happy with the services supplied. Conclusively; AMCOS in the research region provided a variety of services, but social services were lacking. The discrepancy between expectation and perception is negative, meaning that members of AMCOS anticipated more than what was given by their organisation. The report advises that AMCOS executives focus on the weaknesses to enhance service quality for their members so as to boost the customer satisfaction index.