Research Article published by Advances in Computer Science: an International Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 3, No.9, May 2014
Access to agricultural markets and marketing information
are essential factors in promoting competitive markets
and improving agricultural sector development. The
agricultural sector employs majorities in developing
countries and it contributes greatly to the development of
these countries. Unluckily, majorities of the farmers are
smallholders living in isolated rural areas and thus lack
appropriate access to markets for their products and also
they are deprived of agricultural market information. As a
lack of these, smallholder farmers are exploited by greedy
traders and receive low prices for their agricultural
produce. This study has explored the use of agricultural
market information services in linking smallholder
farmers to markets, especially in sub-Sahara developing
countries. Origin of, the needs for, and the current status
of agricultural market information services in developing
countries are clearly presented. Lastly, the study explored
the limitation of the success of most agricultural market
information services in sub-Sahara developing countries.