Impact Of Agricultural Market Reforms On Smallholder Farmers In ...

Finally, proximity to an all-season road, a paved road, or to the sous-prefecture headquarters are not
associated with higher market surplus ratios. As mentioned above, proximity to a large urban
market seems to be more important than proximity to a good road.
Characteristics of sales transactions
Timing The IFPRI-LARES Small Farmer Survey collected information on each sales
transaction carried out by the farmers in the sample. This allows us to estimate the distribution of
marketed supply by month for each crop and each type of farmer. Since the marketing patterns
vary from one year to the next, it should be kept in mind that the results presented refer to the year
prior to the implementation of the survey (1998).
Maize sales take place throughout the year, but tend to be greater in the period March-June when 59
percent of the marketed surplus is sold. This corresponds to the three months before the mainseason
harvest. Thus, it appears that farmers are storing maize until just before the main harvest,
perhaps to take advantage of higher prices or perhaps to ensure that their own consumption needs
have been met first. A second period of maize sales occurs in December, when 12 percent of the
annual volume is sold. This corresponds to the harvest of the second season in the south. (see Table
4.1.118).
Three-quarters of the sorghum/millet sales take place in the first six months of the year. In fact,
around half of the sales occur in the second quarter (April-June). The monthly pattern of sales
appears somewhat erratic because of the small number of farmers that sell sorghum/millet (see
Table 4.1.118).
Cowpeas are sold throughout the year, but sales tend to be concentrated in the first four months of
the year. Almost half (46 percent) of sales occur between January and April. August and
December are also period of active commercialization of cowpeas (see Table 4.1.118).
One of the advantages of manioc is that the harvest can be delayed, allowing it to be “stored” in the
ground until needed. Thus, manioc is useful for coping with the failure of other crops. The results
of the IFPRI-LARES Small Farmer Survey suggest that in spite of this flexibility, the sales of
manioc tend to be seasonally concentrated. Sixty percent of manioc sales take place in April and
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