Consideration of alternative marketing organisations to serve small tropical farmers

Abstract

For some time small farmers in the developing countries have been receiving specific attention from their governments and from aid agencies, including the World Bank. The programmes formulated to assist these farmers have not always been founded, however, on a clear understanding of their needs. This paper first sets up parameters for small farmers applicable in this context. It then attempts to analyse the kinds of help that a small farmer seeks in respect of marketing and to assess what can be expected from different forms of marketing organisation. Criteria include consideration along with larger scale suppliers, reliability and continuity of service, ease of access to guaranteed prices and to official purchasing agencies and the assistance provided on production methods and in the provision of production requisites and credit. These criteria can be met most easily when the small farmers are relatively concentrated in location and are engaged in high value production for which they have some comparative advantage.