Many farmers face difficulties in navigating the complexities of marketing their crops. A single farmer may not have enough to justify bringing his or her crop to market. During the peak of the season when the market is flooded with produce, it may not be economically feasible for a farmer to bring his goods to market.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank has produced and released Conservation Agriculture and Marketing Videos that explain how to work alongside farmers to facilitate marketing decisions on a community level. The video series is broken down into four steps. Each step has a short description and a video demonstrating briefly how to conduct the exercise.
Step 1: Market Mapping and Strategies
Step 2: Seasonal Price Calendar
Step 3: Gross Margin and Comparative Analysis
Step 4: Collaboration and Aggregation Strategies
These videos are practical, succinct, and appropriate for smallholder contexts. The information they provide can and should be contextualized to local preferences and resources. The videos walk you through activities to help facilitate communication and collaboration between farmers within a community. All decisions should be made by the local community. Within a 2 to 3 hour timeframe, practicing the four outlined steps can help a group identify the hurdles they face in marketing their products, discuss realities of local market dynamics, and determine potential collaboration opportunities.