Agricultural Marketing Improvement Programme

Agricultural Marketing Improvement Programme

This programme supports the government's commitment to improve agricultural marketing. Its aims are to: help stabilize domestic grain prices and reduce the effects of fluctuating commodity prices on the incomes of smallholder farmers; improve market linkages for small-scale farmers and their organizations; and encourage them to increase production and improve their incomes.

The programme supports improvements in processing, storage and transport technologies in order to reduce post-harvest crop losses and increase returns to farmers. In coffee-producing areas, it is involved in establishing an auction and exchange process controlled by project participants and it promotes decentralization of coffee processing and marketing.

The principal objective of the programme is empowerment of smallholder farmers to engage in and exploit emerging market opportunities. Activities include: training farmers in post-harvest management; improved access to and use of market information, grades and standards; organization; enterprise management; and the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural marketing.

Source: IFAD