%O Network Paper - Agricultural Research and Extension Network, ODI (UK), No. 120 
%K TROPAG, Cajanus cajan, small farms, exports, quality, international trade, marketing channels, cash crops, grain legumes, pigeon peas, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania
%A R Jones
%A H A Freeman
%A G L Monaco
%I Agricultural Research & Extension Network
%B Improving the access of small farmers in eastern and southern Africa to global pigeonpea markets
%L icrisat6048
%N 120
%S Agricultural Research & Extension Network (AgREN) Papers series 120
%D 2002
%X Recent developments in sub-Saharan Africa highlight an increasing trend toward liberalized domestic markets and foreign trade. To take advantage of these developments, small-scale farmers must be able to participate in productive activities in which they have a competitive advantage. This implies access to well-organized marketing, distribution and post-harvest systems; effective market information; and technologies that allow them to be price and quality competitive. An outline is given of an ongoing strategic partnership between the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and TechnoServe Inc., an international non-profit business development organization, and their work with a range of public and private sector actors to improve the incentives for smallholders to produce high-quality pigeon peas targeted at high-value niche markets differentiated by quality standards. In Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, smallholder farmers are being linked to different niche markets through a range of institutional and market arrangements. A regional strategy to introduce new technologies, along with simple and easily administered quality standards based on end-user needs, can help farmers, traders and exporters to benefit from niche markets that demand higher quality standards than the traditional export market for fair average quality (FAQ) grain. .
%T Improving the access of small farmers in eastern and southern Africa to global pigeonpea markets.Agricultural Research and Extension Network Paper No. 120