COLLECTIVE MARKET PARTICIPATION FOR IMPROVED INCOME AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMING HOUSEHOLDS: A CASE OF BALAKA INNOVATION PLATFORM IN MALAWI

Abstract

Collective market participation can reduce transaction costs and information asymmetries, which can build up market power. The objective of this study was to evaluate decisions to participate in collective marketing and its effect on household income among smallholder farmers in an Innovation Platform (IP). This study targeted the Balaka IP in Malawi. Collective marketing identified as critical for improving households\u2019 incomes, is one of the activities that Balaka Innovation Platform has been addressing since its formation in 2009. The study involved a sample of 115 randomly selected households from Balaka Innovation Platform. The odds of participating in collective marketing by smallholder farm households in Balaka was significantly influenced by gender, education level, access to social capital through membership in farmer groups that form the Innovation Platform, farming experience, adoption/practice of conservation agriculture and possession of assets e.g. cellphone and bicycle. Moreover, results indicate that functions of IPs such as organising farmers to market collectively, promoting crop diversification, improved extension service, credit access through linkages to microfinance, communication and market linkages, positively influence income. Thus participation in multi-stakeholder IP activities highly influences collective marketing, which in turn impacts positively on smallholder farming households\u2019 income.La participation collective au march\ue9 peut r\ue9duire les co\ufbts de transaction et les assym\ue9tries d\u2019information; lesquelles peuvent constituer un pouvoir du march\ue9. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019\ue9valuer les d\ue9cisions \ue0 participer \ue0 la commercialisation collective et leur effet sur le revenu des m\ue9nages entre les petits exploitants agricoles dans une Plate-forme d\u2019Innovation (IP). Cette \ue9tude s\u2019est focalis\ue9e sur le Balaka IP au Malawi. La commercialisation collective identifi\ue9e comme essentielle pour l\u2019am\ue9lioration des revenus de m\ue9nages, est une des activit\ue9s que la Plate-forme d\u2019Innovation de Balaka a toujours abord\ue9 depuis sa mise en place en 2009. Cette \ue9tude a utilis\ue9 un \ue9chantillon de 115 m\ue9nages al\ue9atoirement select\ue9s dans la Plate-forme d\u2019Innovation de Balaka. Les chances de participation des petits exploitants agricoles \ue0 la commercialisation collective au Balaka \ue9tait significativement influenc\ue9es par le genre, le niveau d\u2019\ue9ducation, l\u2019acc\ue8s au capital social \ue0 travers les groupements de producteurs qui forment la Plate-forme d\u2019Innovation, l\u2019exp\ue9rience agricole, l\u2019adoption/la pratique de l\u2019agriculture conservative et la possession d\u2019actifs eg. t\ue9l\ue9phone cellulaire et bicyclette. De plus, les r\ue9sultats montrent que les fonctions des IPs telles que: organiser les agricultures \ue0 commercialiser collectivement, promouvoir la diversification de culture, le service am\ue9lior\ue9 de vulgarisation, l\u2019acc\ue8s au credit en liaison avec la microfinance, la communication et les liens commerciaux, influencent posistivement le revenu. Ainsi, la participation multipartite aux activit\ue9s de l\u2019IP influence la commercialisation collective, qui en cons\ue9quence impacte positvement sur le revenu des petits exploitants agricoles