A publication titled: “Do All Roads Lead to Market?”  by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in partnership with The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) was recently launched   in Accra, Ghana.

The launch was attended by more than 100 key stakeholders from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture delivered the keynote address while launching the book.

Though African small-scale farmers work extremely hard to increase their productivity, and promote food security across the continent, very little is being done about structured markets to absorb their produce and make their efforts more profitable. Post-harvest losses, with their attendant challenges, make many farmers lose substantial quantities of their produce.

AGRA and its partners, by this book, seek to propose various strategies─derived from lessons learnt over a period of time and across several AGRA projects─to make food markets more efficient and profitable to smallholder farmers in Africa. In summary, the book discusses six key issues including: Organization of farmers; bulking and collective marketing;  and market Information Systems.

Other issues discussed are promoting an enabling environment for access to finance;  post-harvest handling and value addition, and increasing demand through alternative use of staples.

Matiéyédou Konlambigue, Program Officer for AGRA’s Market Access Program said: “The book looks at these issues to provide relevant information which will inform the design and implementation of new projects.

It also helps us to take a critical look at what we have been doing, and suggests ways by which such efforts can be made more effective and efficient in the future.”

It is said that strong links to markets for poor rural producers are essential to increasing agricultural productivity, generating economic growth, and reducing hunger and poverty. AGRA seeks to promote such links to markets by learning what works and what does not work to be able to propose workable strategies.

Mariana Wongtschowski, Senior Advisor at KIT Development Policy and Practice Unit said: “Our work is to support organizations in learning. In this case, both AGRA and its grantees were incredibly open to hear suggestions, critiques, and ideas. That made the process the more interesting – and the lessons more readily useful to all parties.”

This book, which describes how AGRA has been trying to improve markets for staple foods in Africa through its Market Access Program,is recommended reading for all those who aim to improve market access for smallholder farmers, and promote agricultural development for food security in Africa.