The Spatial Pattern of Catchment Area of Municipal Markets in Mbeya Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

This article reports on the spatial pattern of catchment areas of municipal markets in Mbeya Municipality, Tanzania.  Consumer behaviour, as conceived in the fourth stage of the flow chart model of food products marketing in urban areas in Tanzania, informed the study.  The investigation employed survey methods of data collection, statistical and cartographic techniques of data analysis and presentation. The results show that patterns of consumer behaviour do not only create discreet and shared trade areas within the municipality but, they also create dominant nuclei of growth for urban based central functions.   The internal morphology of Mbeya Municipality has been spontaneously transformed from a single nucleus urban structure, based at Maendeleo ward, to a triple nuclei structure based at Ghana, Maanga and Uyole wards.  Consumer behaviou is, therefore, a very significant space forming factor in urban development.  And the flow chart model for food products marketing in the urban areas in Tanzania provides an opportunity for a theoretico-spatial analysis of the marketing of food products in Mbeya Municipality and, it may perhaps, be adopted to undertake similar studies in other urban areas in Tanzania.