Greater access to information and buyers steadily adds to farmers’ market knowledge and gives them greater confidence to diversify into higher value (often perishable) products.
The additional knowledge translates into a more accurate understanding of demand and an enhanced ability to control production and manage supply chains. Farmers’ behavior is changing, and their farming is becoming more commercial.
Trends emerging around the use of mobile phones include:
(1) farmers deal directly with wholesalers or larger scale intermediaries rather than small scale interme-diaries;
(2) farmers conduct market searches over a wider number of markets; and (3) farmers develop a broader network of contacts than their peers who do not own mobile phones.