ABSTRACT
The shortest marketing channel, found in all production areas, consists of a farmertrader who goes to a small rural market on foot or by public minibus to sell vegetables or fruits from her own farm to local consumers. The channel has a second level if the farmer does not sell her produce to consumers but to one or more retailers. The smallest horticultural markets are informal rural retail markets. They are not registered and have no facilities at all. The market is periodic, with one or two market days a week. The number of traders is limited. Most are farmer-traders, selling produce cultivated on their own farms. Although in theory a clear distinction exists between urban wholesale and retail markets, the situation is more complicated in reality, because wholesale activities in urban markets attract retailers who try to set up business in the same compound.
