ABSTRACT
Marketing is arguably the most neglected issue in farming systems research (FSR). This chapter argues that there are two related reasons why no progress has been made to explicitly incorporate marketing analysis in FSR. The first is the overwhelming concern of FSR with alleviating biological constraints by the design, testing and recommendation to farmers of improved technologies. The second is a disciplinary bias which views marketing as an issue that is "exogenous" to the farm household and of concern largely in macro-level analyses that are carried out to inform policy-makers. The chapter explains the partial-budget analysis procedure advocated by CIMMYT and analysis the procedure by referring to a case study of farmer marketing strategies in Western Sudan. It aims to draw conclusions about how a micro-level study of farmer marketing behavior can contribute to the CIMMYT procedure and to FSR in general.
