Linking smallholders to markets

A majority of farmers are smallholders and supporting them is the key to a sustained structural transformation and poverty reduction. Linking them with markets would do a great deal in moving forward in that direction.

It would require (according to to a new report by ODI—Leap & Learning: Linking Smallholders to Markets):

• Business case for smallholders and their partners in supply chains (enabling rural investment climate and provision of public goods)
• Good linking approaches (facilitation, learning, flexibility, clear exit strategies)
• Organizing the links (private sector participation, contracting, cooperatives)

Necessary condition:

• An enabling investment climate (peace, security, macroeconomic stability, property rights, rules pertaining to standard and measurement)
• The provision of rural public goods provisioned by the state (roads, power, education, healthcare, drinking water, agriculture R&D)

Also, enhancing access to inputs, technical advise, insurance, credit and other financial services is required.