The livestock sector in Tanzania has had and continues to have a major role for the overall
national development. Historically, it has been an important arena for the debate over the
appropriate development the country should undertake. Ideas of „tradition‟ and „modern‟
livestock production system(s) continue to influence policy making processes with the first,
mobile pastoralism, considered backward by policy makers, and the second, the ranching system,
being highly regarded in policies that touch on the development of the livestock sector as a
whole. This paper uses the value chain approach as an analytical tool to provide a (re)assessment
of the value of the pastoral system (from producers to end consumers) which is often absent from
official statistics and figures besides the bare number of tax revenues. The analysis focuses
specifically on red meat which has a crucial role for food security as well as in the culture of the
country. The results of the paper show that the total value of the pastoral value chain with respect
to meat only is substantially higher than the value of pastoralism reported in (scant) data in
official statistics. These results strengthen the policy-related objective of the paper which is to
prove the contribution of pastoralism as a highly efficient system that supports many livelihoods
and worthy of more government support. The conclusion that can be drawn is that ranching
system may well co-exists with pastoralism but the two need not be mutually exclusive.