This paper focuses on micro level marketing research to support the design and implementation of rural development programmes. Contemporary rural development efforts are directed primarily at promoting change so as to simultaneously affect the distribution and growth of income, employment, nutrition, health, and other dimensions of the quality of life in rural areas. Although there is a continuing debate over the appropriate rural development strategy, adequate analyses of the essential growth and equity issues will not be forthcoming until we better understand the micro behaviour of both production and marketing systems in rural areas. Although our focus is on rural marketing systems, we recognize that food and agricultural markets are ultimately national and in many cases international in scope. Consequently, our plea for more micro research on rural marketing systems does not imply that micro analysis of urban marketing systems, macro analysis of national marketing systems, or international trade analysis be reduced. We believe all of these are necessary, but none alone is sufficient for the design and implementation of rural development programmes. And while none of these research areas has enjoyed high priority in national economic planning and development programmes, we contend that there is a critical shortage of micro understanding and analysis of the rural portions of national marketing systems (Abbott).