Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders

Fafchamps, Marcel ; Gabre-Madhin, Eleni

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: AGRICULTURAL MARKETS;    AGRICULTURAL TRADE;    TRANSACTIONS;    MARKETING COSTS;    TRANSACTION COSTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2734
RP-ID  :  WPS2734

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Drawing on original surveys ofagricultural traders, the authors examine how tradersoperate in two Sub-Saharan African countries, Benin andMalawi. They find the following: The largest transactioncosts for traders are search and transport. Search methodsrely principally on personal visits by the trader, whichraises search costs. And since enterprises are very small,transport represents a large share of marketing costs. Brandrecognition, grading, and quality certification arenonexistent. Brokers and agents are not organized incommodity exchanges. Quantities are not pooled for transportand storage so as to achieve returns to scale. Interseasonaland interregional arbitrage is not feasible for mosttraders, who prefer to operate day to day in a smallterritory. This information provides some important insightsinto how agricultural trade could be improved. It suggestspossible policy interventions in four main areas: increasingtraders' asset base, reducing transaction risk,promoting more sophisticated business practices, andreducing physical marketing costs.