Smallholders benefit from collective marketing

Selling banana by weight, rather than by the buyer's visual estimation of value, has increased prices paid to farmers
© Akim Mbeche/TechnoServe

Smallholder banana growers, like other smallscale farmers, can struggle to find a good market for their crop or earn a high price. They may also have difficulty obtaining disease-free, high yielding banana plants and other inputs, and this leads to low yields. In Kenya, the TechnoServe organisation has supported farmer groups to join up and establish their own banana marketing centres. By bulking their banana crop, they have attracted more consistent buyers. They have also introduced selling by kilo, rather than having to accept a price based on the buyer’s own judgement of value. And by forming a larger group, farmers have accessed better quality banana plants as well as training.