Economic Opportunity Mailing List Archive

["Vinay Chand" <<address removed>>]

Taking Colin's last point about moving the discussion on to constraints to 
access to markets and assets, in my experience, farmers including small farmers 
nearly always have access to markets.

It is not the access that I find to be constrained, rather the terms on which 
access is granted. To see the implication for the smaller farmer it is 
sufficient to look at the physical disposition of what he produces. It has to 
be picked up from the field, not the nearest road. The farmer may carry it to 
the road or a larger farmer may do so on its way to the farmers market in the 
locality.

Unless the transaction is within the family with land that has been divided up 
between members but who still co-operate, or a collective organisation between 
a number of small farmers, whosoever collects the produce can end up making the 
same for it as the farmer. The role of collectors is critical here. Collectors 
aggregate produce from a number of small farmers and take it to a local market 
where it is normally bought by a transporter/wholesaler taking it to a larger 
market unless of course the collector is also a wholesaler.

The importance of looking at this key part of the value chain, which is 
necessary in my opinion if there is to be an efforts to maximise farmer 
incomes, is often obfuscated by confusion between farmers, collectors and 
wholesalers and their roles at major markets. The buying price at wholesale 
markets was being published in Sri Lanka, for example as a producer price and 
there were proposals to install sophisticated information systems to transmit 
prices including these producer ones.

Real time market price information does not increase access to markets for 
particularly small farmers, it is of no possible use for them. Yet the idea 
appeals to educated planners as part of a transparency process. Real time 
prices are of interest only to traders and transporters. It can guide them to 
markets where they would obtain marginally better prices.

Again, I would return to farm gate prices and the share of final retail prices 
that farmers get. Increasing farmer margins will make production more 
responsive to price movements and to what consumers want. If a farmer only gets 
1/10 or less of the retail price, shelf price movements reflect only trader 
activity. When the farmer gets 1/5 of the retail price, there is a more 
efficient transmission of market signals. 

The farmer does need to be told about market demand movements and that is the 
role of extension as far as I am concerned and transmitting analysis rather 
than real prices.

Best wishes,

Vinay Chand,
230, Finchley Road,
London NW3 6DJ, UK
Tel: 44-20-7794 5977
Fax: 44-20-7431 5715
<address removed><mailto:<address removed>>