For farmers in the southern highlands of Tanzania, inexact market opportunities are the norm. There are no scales and hence no way to exactly determine quantity and price per bag.
There are few chances to sell maize in any standardized units. Buyers purchase maize in buckets, cups, and bags stuffed to the brim, often underpaying farmers by more than 25 percent. Farmers face other obstacles to effectively selling their maize: maize purchased in the village passes through several middlemen before final sale; the more localized the sale opportunity, the lower the price farmers receive. Due to low population density, large markets are uncommon. The cost of transportation to sale points is often prohibitive, so farmers frequently sell to local buyers at very low prices.
One Acre Fund Tanzania recognized these challenges as opportunities for increasing farmer income. In September 2013, they ran a market access trial that connected 180 farmers in five sites with a reputable local buyer. This buyer brought a calibrated scale out to all five sites and paid farmers by the kilogram. In total, 52,057 kilograms of maize were sold, an average of 297.5 kilograms per farmer.
Deonata and Expedito Mahavile of the Kalenga Ward in Iringa District, Tanzania – Photo: One Acre Fund
At a sale price of 400 Tanzanian shillings per kilogram, farmers received an average of 119,000 shillings, or around $74 USD. This represents a 30 percent increase in the price farmers would normally receive through local market opportunities.
On average OAF farmers harvest 1,872 kilograms from their One Acre Fund land. They use only about 31 percent of their total annual harvest for household consumption. That means that 69 percent is being sold. With the bulk of their harvest on the line, it is critically important that farmers get fairly compensated for what they sell.