Identifying The Need For Rural Markets

Abstract

Farmers are also at a disadvantage because they are more or less forced to accept the price the trader offers. They cannot compare the price they are offered with the prevailing local price because there is no local market. Even if they have access to information about the prices in urban markets they cannot really use that knowledge to negotiate with traders because they have no realistic idea of the costs faced by the traders in travelling to their farm or village. For these reasons “assembly” markets have tended to develop in rural areas. They provide a convenient location for traders to meet with farmers. In some cases these markets operate seasonally or on only one or two days of the week. In others, they operate more or less continuously, with large-scale traders sometimes employing agents in several such markets to buy on their behalf.