Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders
Drawing on original surveys of agricultural traders, the authors examine how traders operate in two Sub-Saharan African countries, Benin and Malawi. They find the following: The largest transaction costs for traders are search and transport. Search...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/12/1660273/agricultural-markets-benin-malawi-operation-performance-traders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19415 |
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okr-10986-194152021-04-23T14:03:42Z Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders Fafchamps, Marcel Gabre-Madhin, Eleni AGRICULTURAL MARKETS AGRICULTURAL TRADE TRANSACTIONS MARKETING COSTS TRANSACTION COSTS BRAND IDENTIFICATION COMMODITY EXCHANGES RETURNS TO SCALE ARBITRAGE SMALL FARMS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE ASSETS AUCTION COMMERCE CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT EFFICIENT MARKETS EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION GROSS MARGINS HUMAN CAPITAL INSURANCE INTEREST RATE MARKET BEHAVIOR MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET INFORMATION MARKET INTEGRATION MARKET LIBERALIZATION MARKET SEGMENTATION MARKET SURVEYS MARKET TOWNS MARKETING OPERATING COSTS PRICE FIXING PROPERTY RIGHTS PROPERTY VALUES RETAIL RETURNS TO SCALE SALES SAVINGS STATE INTERVENTION STORAGE CAPACITY SUPPLIERS TOTAL SALES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADERS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSPORT UNFAIR COMPETITION URBANIZATION WAGES WEALTH WORKING CAPITAL Drawing on original surveys of agricultural traders, the authors examine how traders operate in two Sub-Saharan African countries, Benin and Malawi. They find the following: The largest transaction costs for traders are search and transport. Search methods rely principally on personal visits by the trader, which raises search costs. And since enterprises are very small, transport represents a large share of marketing costs. Brand recognition, grading, and quality certification are nonexistent. Brokers and agents are not organized in commodity exchanges. Quantities are not pooled for transport and storage so as to achieve returns to scale. Interseasonal and interregional arbitrage is not feasible for most traders, who prefer to operate day to day in a small territory. This information provides some important insights into how agricultural trade could be improved. It suggests possible policy interventions in four main areas: increasing traders' asset base, reducing transaction risk, promoting more sophisticated business practices, and reducing physical marketing costs. 2014-08-19T16:23:12Z 2014-08-19T16:23:12Z 2001-12 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/12/1660273/agricultural-markets-benin-malawi-operation-performance-traders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19415 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2734 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGRICULTURAL MARKETS AGRICULTURAL TRADE TRANSACTIONS MARKETING COSTS TRANSACTION COSTS BRAND IDENTIFICATION COMMODITY EXCHANGES RETURNS TO SCALE ARBITRAGE SMALL FARMS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE ASSETS AUCTION COMMERCE CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT EFFICIENT MARKETS EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION GROSS MARGINS HUMAN CAPITAL INSURANCE INTEREST RATE MARKET BEHAVIOR MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET INFORMATION MARKET INTEGRATION MARKET LIBERALIZATION MARKET SEGMENTATION MARKET SURVEYS MARKET TOWNS MARKETING OPERATING COSTS PRICE FIXING PROPERTY RIGHTS PROPERTY VALUES RETAIL RETURNS TO SCALE SALES SAVINGS STATE INTERVENTION STORAGE CAPACITY SUPPLIERS TOTAL SALES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADERS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSPORT UNFAIR COMPETITION URBANIZATION WAGES WEALTH WORKING CAPITAL |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURAL MARKETS AGRICULTURAL TRADE TRANSACTIONS MARKETING COSTS TRANSACTION COSTS BRAND IDENTIFICATION COMMODITY EXCHANGES RETURNS TO SCALE ARBITRAGE SMALL FARMS AGRICULTURE ARBITRAGE ASSETS AUCTION COMMERCE CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT EFFICIENT MARKETS EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GDP GDP PER CAPITA GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION GROSS MARGINS HUMAN CAPITAL INSURANCE INTEREST RATE MARKET BEHAVIOR MARKET CONDITIONS MARKET INFORMATION MARKET INTEGRATION MARKET LIBERALIZATION MARKET SEGMENTATION MARKET SURVEYS MARKET TOWNS MARKETING OPERATING COSTS PRICE FIXING PROPERTY RIGHTS PROPERTY VALUES RETAIL RETURNS TO SCALE SALES SAVINGS STATE INTERVENTION STORAGE CAPACITY SUPPLIERS TOTAL SALES TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADERS TRANSACTION COSTS TRANSPORT UNFAIR COMPETITION URBANIZATION WAGES WEALTH WORKING CAPITAL Fafchamps, Marcel Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| geographic_facet |
Africa |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2734 |
| description |
Drawing on original surveys of
agricultural traders, the authors examine how traders
operate in two Sub-Saharan African countries, Benin and
Malawi. They find the following: The largest transaction
costs for traders are search and transport. Search methods
rely principally on personal visits by the trader, which
raises search costs. And since enterprises are very small,
transport represents a large share of marketing costs. Brand
recognition, grading, and quality certification are
nonexistent. Brokers and agents are not organized in
commodity exchanges. Quantities are not pooled for transport
and storage so as to achieve returns to scale. Interseasonal
and interregional arbitrage is not feasible for most
traders, who prefer to operate day to day in a small
territory. This information provides some important insights
into how agricultural trade could be improved. It suggests
possible policy interventions in four main areas: increasing
traders' asset base, reducing transaction risk,
promoting more sophisticated business practices, and
reducing physical marketing costs. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Fafchamps, Marcel Gabre-Madhin, Eleni |
| author_facet |
Fafchamps, Marcel Gabre-Madhin, Eleni |
| author_sort |
Fafchamps, Marcel |
| title |
Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| title_short |
Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| title_full |
Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| title_fullStr |
Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Agricultural Markets in Benin and Malawi : The Operation and Performance of Traders |
| title_sort |
agricultural markets in benin and malawi : the operation and performance of traders |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/12/1660273/agricultural-markets-benin-malawi-operation-performance-traders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19415 |
| _version_ |
1764439803128971264 |