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Abstract
Growing demand for high-value food commodities is opening up
opportunities for farmers, especially smallholders to diversify towards
commodities that have strong potential for higher returns to land, labour
and capital. But, there is an apprehension about the capability of
smallholders to participate in the market-oriented production due to their
lack of access to markets, capital, inputs, and technology and extension
services. In this paper, possibilities have been explored of linking
smallholders to markets through such institutions as cooperatives,
growers’ associations and contract farming that reduce marketing and
transaction costs and alleviate some production constraints. Evidence
has shown that smallholders do participate and make a sizeable contribution
to the production of high-value food commodities, but their links to markets
are not strong. Though market institutions like cooperatives, contract
farming and growers’ associations do not altogether ignore smallholders,
some policy support is imperative to strengthen their linkages with the
markets.