Linking smallholder farmers to markets and making markets work for the poor is increasingly becoming an important part of the global research and development agenda. Organizations have used various strategies to link farmers to markets. These approaches have mainly been evaluated for their potential to increase participation in markets and household incomes. The evaluations have assumed a unitary household where income and resources are pooled and allocated according to a joint utility function. In most households, however, income is rarely pooled and neither are resources jointly allocated. This article uses data from Malawi and Uganda to analyze what influences income distribution between men and women, focusing on the type of commodity, type of market and approaches used. The results indicate that commodities generating lower average revenues are more likely to be controlled by women, whereas men control commodities that are high revenue generators, often sold in formal markets.Relier les petits agriculteurs aux marche´s et faire en sorte que ces derniers servent les pauvres sont des objectifs qui prennent une importance grandissante dans les programmes mondiaux de recherche et de de´veloppement. Les organisations ont mobilise´diverses strate´gies pour relier les agriculteurs aux marche´s. Ces approches ont surtout e´te´e´value´es pour leur capacite´potentielle a`accroıˆtre la participation aux marche´s et les revenus des me´nages. Les estimations sont base´es sur l'hypothe`se du me´nage unitaire dont les revenus et ressources sont regroupe´s et re´partis selon une fonction d'utiliteć ommune. Dans la plupart des me´nages, cependant, les revenus sont rarement mis en commun et les ressources ne proviennent pas non plus d'une seule source. Cet article s'appuie sur des donne´es concernant le Malawi et l'Ouganda pour analyser ce qui influence la re´partition des revenus entre hommes et femmes, en portant une attention particulie`re aux types de marchandises, de marche´s et d'approches utilise´s. Les re´sultats indiquent que les produits qui ge´ne`rent le moins de revenus sont ge´ne´ralement l'affaire des femmes alors que les hommes se chargent des denre´es qui ge´ne`rent le plus de revenus, et qui sont souvent vendues sur les marche´s formels.

No abstract

Farmer participatory research (FPR) approaches are now considered mainstream and are especially applicable for developing appropriate technology options in complex, diverse and risk-prone regions, where local adaptations are crucial. Although the advantages of using farmer knowledge to guide scientific research are numerous and well documented, the challenges and potential pitfalls that befall biophysical researchers, in particular, when using FPR approaches have received much less attention, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Our experiences show that in certain cases, the methods used to collect farmer knowledge are flawed, leading to inaccurate or incomplete information being gathered. This potentially leads to the development and promotion of unsustainable, unprofitable or socially unacceptable technologies. This paper uses a series of examples to illustrate that discrepancies between farmer and researcher observations may occur because (i) farmers and scientists may not have sufficient insight into the systems complexity, (ii) farmers and scientists use different reference frameworks, and (iii) methodological errors may lead to farmers intentionally or unintentionally providing false or 'desired' information to achieve (short-term) benefits. This paper concludes by providing guidelines to improve the integration of farmer and scientific knowledge in order to develop appropriate technology options that are both environmentally sound and adaptable to local conditions.

No abstract

This paper presents lessons from applying an innovative action research approach for linking smallholder farmers to markets, in eastern and southern Africa. The Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) approach aims to strengthen social organization and entrepreneurial capacity in rural communities. It focuses on fostering community‐based capacity for the inclusion of rural women and the poor in analyzing and accessing market opportunities. Using case studies from Malawi and Uganda the paper assesses the outcomes of ERI on rural communities with a focus on human capital, gender issues and investment in natural resource management. Results show that households are benefiting significantly from linkages to markets in terms of increasing household incomes, and accumulating assets. Skills in analyzing markets and in negotiating with traders have increased among smallholder farmers. The integration of gender in the approach has led to changes in gender decision making patterns at household and community level towards a more shared decision‐making process. The results however show a difference in skills between men and women, with women showing lower levels of skills acquisition. Farmer participatory research has increased investments in improved technologies such as fertilizer applications for soil fertility management.