Collective marketing can take various forms, including
bulking up for marketing by farmers groups, producer organizations,
or cereal banks. Cereal banks are community based
institutions that acquire, value, and supply grain with
the intention of improving food security during the hungry
season or extended droughts. Grain is bought from the village
or elsewhere when prices are low, just after harvest; it
is stored until it is needed and then sold to the villagers at a
reasonable price. The villagers are paid a better price for their
grain when the market prices are low, and they then have
cash to meet their expenses. When the market prices are
high and their granaries are empty, they can buy grain from
the cereal banks at below-market rates. Furthermore, since
the bank is in the village, farmers do not have to travel long
distances to buy grain and then transport it back home, which
saves time and money. However, cereal banks have had a
poor success rate; have had difficulty competing in spatial
arbitrage; and have suffered from accumulated consumer
debt, slow collective decision making, corruption, and loss of
original capital. Where depletion of capital was being avoided,
an unsustainable level of external supervision was required
(Coulter 2007). All the collective marketing initiatives have a
higher probability of success when they complement agricultural
intensification and involve bulking substantial quantities
of produce for quality-conscious commercial buyers.