Wednesday, February 26, 2020; 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
IFPRI Malawi Office
Area 14/205, Lilongwe
For directions to our office please click here.
IFPRI Malawi invites you to a brown bag research seminar presentation by Rosemary Botha, Research Analyst, IFPRI Malawi.
Topic
Market Information and Access to Structured Markets by Small Farmers
Abstract
Small farmers and traders often lack the market information they need to earn the most from their crop sales. This paper analyzes the effects of an action research experiment in central Malawi, in which four groups of smallholder farmers were provided with maize and soybean price information from a local commodity exchange during the 2019 marketing season, while four other groups did not receive this information. Using data from a panel survey of 399 farmers and 78 traders conducted before and after the main marketing season, and using kernel propensity score matching to account for possible differences between the treated and non-treated farmers, we estimate the effects of the intervention on a set of outcome indicators. We find that the quantity of maize sold by farmers reduced significantly while farmer sales through structured markets remained unchanged. The study concludes that provision of price information alone is not enough to facilitate small farmers’ use of structured markets. Greater effort is needed to sensitize farmers and traders on the quality and quantity requirements, as well as the operations of structured markets.
Please RSVP to the IFPRI Malawi office (ifpri-lilongwe@cgiar.org) if you plan to attend, or designate someone to attend in your place as space is limited.
Individuals attending this event may be audio taped, videotaped, or photographed during the course of a meeting, and by attending grant permission for their likenesses and the content of their comments, if any, to be broadcast, webcast, published, or otherwise reported or recorded. Questions? Please contact IFPRI-Lilongwe@cgiar.org
