ABSTRACT
Introducing new technologies and market strategies for sorghum producers in developing countries: the Sahel case John H. Sanders, Purdue University, USA; Botorou Ouendeba, former Director of the 3N Program, Niger; Ababacar Ndoye, former Director of the Institute of Food Technology, Senegal; and Niaba Témé, Institute of the Agricultural Economy (IER), Mali
1 Introduction
2 Sorghum performance and potential: Mali and Burkina Faso
3 The strategy: breaking out of subsistence
4 Pilot project success and scaling-up
5 Second-generation problems
6 Institutional innovation: farmers’ association as a marketing cooperative
7 Growth of a secondary market for sorghum
8 Conclusion
9 Where to look for further information
10 Appendix: associations and farmer details, 2008-12
11 References
The dilemma of raising yields for a crop produced principally for home consumption is that yields, input use and expected prices are all low but interrelated, requiring different strategies to change. Soils in semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa are poor. This requires fertilzers which farmers cannot always afford. Low yields mean little surplus marketed so that the farmers deal with the lowest level of the marketing chain, sell at the depressed seasonal price right after harvest, typically selling a low-quality product with 10-20% impurities. Changing the marketing strategy requires increased storage capacity, better quality control and the ability to amass and sell larger quantities to higher levels of the marketing chain. This requires both improvements in technology and institutional change (e.g. farmers’ associations for cooperative marketing).
