Provision of extension services to livestock farmers ranks high on government ’s agricultural development agenda<br />in Tanzania. Livestock Extension Services (LESs) are usually designed around productivity improvements to<br />farmers and the sector at large. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of LESs on the choices of smallholder<br />farmers commitment of resources for future expectation of returns on useful domesticated animals (Livestock<br />Investment Decisions - LIDe) in Mbulu and Bariadi Districts. A cross sectional research design was applied to<br />survey 333 households randomly selected among smallholder farmers. A probit regression model was employed to<br />investigate the role of extension service attributes on LIDe by smallholder. Results suggest that market linkages,<br />access to information, technology transfer, access to training, technical advises and competence of livestock<br />technical staff have a positive significant effect to LIDe. Group membership and access to livestock facilities<br />appeared to have negative influence. The study concludes that, the more access and participation in extension<br />service packages by the smallholder farmers, the higher the contribution of the extension services on LIDe. It is<br />recommended that, follow-up visits to farmers after joining new markets or channels is important so that sustainability<br />of the livestock returns to farmers is sustained.

Keyword: Livestock Extension Services (LES); Livestock Investment Decisions (LIDe); Smallholder farmers