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E. O. Asante
Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
Abstract
Measures to encourage and improve the performance of the private sector in the marketing of crops
The problems facing private sector maize marketing in Ghana are addressed. The characteristics of the private sector participants are identified together with areas where strengthening would improve their efficiency.
Lack of government support and capital, transaction costs and non-availability of storage facilities are the major constraints.
Recommendations include the introduction of credit schemes and grading standards, a clear government policy on agricultural trade and training programmes for traders.
Résumé
Mesures pour encourager et améliorer le rendement du secteur privé dans la commercialisation des récoltes Les problèmes qui se posent a la commercialisation du mars par le secteur privé au Ghana vent envisages. Les caractéristiques des participants vent identifiées, ainsi que les zones du secteur privé dont l'efficacité serait améliorée si elle était renforcée. Le manque d'un appui du gouvernement et de capitaux, les coûts de transaction et la non-disponibilité de moyens de stockage vent les principales contraintes. Les recommendations comportent l'introduction de plans de credit et de normes de qualité, une politique claire du gouvernement sur le commerce agricole et les programmes de formation des commerçants.
INTRODUCTION
The marketing of most agricultural products in Ghana has been dominated by the private sector. However, these activities have not received much support from successive governments, and their potential contribution to the development of an efficient agricultural marketing system has not been harnessed effectively.
The main objectives of the presentation are to:
The emphasis will be on cereals, especially maize, in this presentation.
There are differences in the procedures governing the marketing of various types of agricultural crops. There are elaborate institutional arrangements for the marketing of the traditional export crops, namely, cocoa, coffee and sheanuts. In the case of crops which are produced mainly to feed local manufacturing entities, the producer has nothing to do with their storage. The marketing agencies buy the produce immediately it is ready. This category includes tobacco for the cigarette factories and cotton for the Cotton Development Company, Plantations Limited, Agro-trade, and other entities who sell cotton to the textile mills. The market for these crops is well organized. There are quality specifications and produce is purchased by weight. The prices for these crops are tied to the standard and quality specifications.
The case for maize and other food crops is different. Weights are not used in the marketing of these crops, and standards and quality specifications are virtually non-existent. In the case of cereals, the traders may purchase maize in bags or other containers which can vary in weight by as much as 20%. Purchasers must rely on their experience to be able to determine the moisture content of the grain.
Participants in the maize market consist of producers and marketing intermediaries from both the state and private sectors. The private sector is competitive (with many small-scale traders) and handles over 90% of the grain market. This is the focus of this paper.
The Ghana Food Distribution Corporation (GFDC), which is state-owned, was a major buyer in the past. More recently it has been hampered by liquidity problems, and now purchases only about 1% of the maize marketable surplus. A study by Obeng et al. (1990) has shown that most farmers sell their farm produce through private marketing intermediaries. As indicated in Table 1, as many as 94% of the respondents sold farm produce to private marketing intermediaries. Only about 30% sold any produce to the GFDC.
The decline in the purchases by GFDC makes it more important than ever to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the private maize traders who perform the marketing functions. This and other indications show that the latter will continue to play a major role in the foreseeable future.
Table 1 Marketing channels for farmers
| Sales channels | Frequency | Percentage |
| GFDC | 98 | 29.5 |
| Ghana Seed Company | 6 | 1.8 |
| Grains Warehouse Company | 4 | 4.2 |
| Commercial store/firm | 8 | 5.4 |
| Private traders | 312 | 94.0 |
| Factory/cannery/mills | 17 | 5.1 |
| Institutions (schools, etc.) | 89 | 26.8 |
| Others | 2 3 | 6.9 |
| Number of farmers | 332 |
The main focus of public policy on food marketing has been the state-buying agencies. The state has supported the state-buying agencies with the construction of silos and other warehousing facilities. Even though overwhelming evidence has shown that it is the private sector which markets the bulk of agricultural produce, no attention has been paid to this sector by previous governments. Rather, some government policies have militated against the participation of the private sector in the marketing system.
Most private traders have in the past been reluctant, for instance, to store grain. Storage of agricultural products, especially cereals, is undertaken by farmers, the parastatals, and, to a small extent, traders. The parastatals, specifically the GFDC and formerly the Grain Warehousing Company Ltd (GWC) operate the bulk of modern maize storage facilities. A few farms and some poultry mills also have modern storage facilities including silos. The bulk of maize and other cereals in Ghana is stored by the farmers in barns or other traditional storage facilities. With the present near-total dominance of the private sector in the cereal market, its participation in the marketing system will have to be improved and strengthened for the benefit of the farmer and the consumer.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MARKET PARTICIPANTS AND MODE OF OPERATION
Participants in the maize trade
The maize market is dominated by several small-scale traders, the greater proportion of whom are women. Five main participants in the maize trade may be identified: the farmer/seller, the local assembler, the commission agent, the long-distance wholesaler, the market-based wholesaler and the market-based retailer.
Farmer/seller The farmer/seller is the farmer who sells his/her produce to any of the other market participants. He normally sells to the buyers for cash but in some cases, especially during periods of bumper harvest, may sell on credit. The farmer may store maize on cobs in traditional barns, in homes or compounds, or in other traditional storage structures.
Local assemblers The local assemblers buy produce from village bulking markets or from the compounds of farmer/sellers. They transport the produce to wholesale markets for sale to long-distance wholesalers either directly or through commission agents. Most local assemblers or traders specialize in the sale of particular staples. In many cases, the local assemblers (most of whom are women) are part-time farmers. Nearly 70% of local assemblers use their own funds to finance their operations, and the rest is obtained from relatives or money-lenders. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, maize was usually bought on credit. This has changed in the last decade.
The local assemblers provide a vital link in the marketing system between the remote villages and wholesale markets. Some assemblers may buy maize on credit but have to make a down-payment to the farmers. These assemblers normally operate on a rapid stock turnover basis.
Local traders normally assemble more maize in the post-harvest period than in the preharvest market period. Average weekly turnover for these traders is about 15 bags during the post-harvest period and about 2 bags during the preharvest period. The local assemblers replenish stock, on average, every two weeks.
Maize may be stored on the assembler's compound. The period of storage depends on the length of time needed to assemble substantial maize to justify a trip to wholesale markets and normally does not exceed two weeks. Few assemblers store produce with the object of taking advantage of higher prices in the future. They do not see long-term storage as part of their business or as a means of earning larger profits.
A major reason given by the local assemblers for the low volume of operation is lack of capital. Their inability to store produce for speculative purposes has been attributed largely to the unavailability of storage facilities.
Long distance traders The long-distance traders are mostly full-time traders. The long-distance wholesalers normally travel from the urban consuming areas to buy maize in the producing areas and transfer produce to base for resale at wholesale level. They normally buy produce from local assemblers and farmer/ sellers with or without the services of commission agents. Most wholesale traders are women. Some have moved up from farmer/ sellers and local assemblers to the status of wholesale traders. The long-distance traders are, on average, older than the local assemblers. They have considerable experience in the maize trade. Most are independent operators.
Armah (1989) has indicated that the long-distance wholesalers and their local assemblers are the major agents in the trade, and buy over 70% of marketed maize. The volume of operation of each of these market intermediaries is always quite small. They buy quantities which they can sell within a short time before their next market day, or before their next round if they are itinerant traders. They buy for cash and normally sell on credit. The results of Armah's study indicate that over half the sales volume of the long-distance wholesalers are made on a credit basis for periods up to a month or more.
The long-distance wholesalers, like the local assemblers, engage in short-time storage in the normal course of their business. Most of the long-distance traders also operate with their own funds; thus the ability to increase their volume of business and to store grains for speculative purposes is limited.
The long-distance traders face price uncertainty which results from the relatively long time-lag between purchase and re-sale. This requires that they develop risk-taking abilities and acquire knowledge of local and temporal supply-and-demand conditions.
Commission agents The commission agents establish links between farmer/sellers, local assemblers and the long-distance wholesalers or traders. They may be market-based wholesalers or retailers operating in bulking markets in producing areas or urban consuming markets. They may also operate directly in producing areas as local assemblers or agents of long-distance assemblers.
Market-based wholesalers The market-based wholesaler may buy maize from long-distance wholesalers or farmer/sellers who bring their produce directly to the urban markets where such traders are based. The market-based traders may also sell on a commission basis for the producers and local assemblers. They may have reasonably good or makeshift warehousing facilities or stores in the markets where the maize may be kept. The market-based wholesalers buy the maize in bags and sell it in bags.
Sales may be either on a cash or credit basis, depending on whether the maize is being sold to market-based retailers or customers who prepare maize-based foods.
Market-based retailers The market-based retailers buy and sell in the market and normally perform the function of breaking bulk and retailing. They have few overhead expenses, such as the market tolls charged by the district assembly. The market-based retailers buy maize either with cash or on credit from farmer/sellers, market-based wholesalers or long-distance wholesalers. They sell the maize for cash.
Gao traders The Gao are not indigenous to Ghana. They normally operate as longdistance wholesalers, market-based wholesalers/ commission agents. The largest operators in the maize trade (in terms of volume of maize purchased) may be found among this group of traders.
The Gao traders appear to have an appreciable understanding of the maize market. They are aware of the massive price variation and may buy and store maize for periods of up to three months. These traders do not have adequate warehousing facilities and may store maize, other cereals and pulses in the open air covered with tarpaulin or polythene. This group of traders would be most likely to utilize the services of a reliable warehousing company.
Input supply to farmers
Some traders, especially the long-distance wholesalers, provide inputs and other services to farmers. The farmers may then be committed to selling a percentage of the produce to the trader later. The traders extend these facilities to the farmers with the objective of assuring themselves of good supplies of maize especially during the post-harvest period when prices are low.
Financing of maize trade
The results of Asante et al. (1989) and other studies confirm that most itinerant traders, private market intermediaries, do not have access to institutional credit and cannot mobilize the funds needed to increase their volume of purchases.
Only 14% of itinerant traders in Asante's study had access to institutional credit. The credit situation for cereal producers was no better. As many as 80% of producers financed their farm operations from their own resources. Table 2 shows the sources of funding for the marketing operations of some private marketing intermediaries.
Table 2 Source of funding for private market intermediaries
| Source | No. of respondents |
| Own | 34 |
| Banks | 6 |
| Friends | 2 |
| Total | 42 |
Storage
The traders may store the maize for 2-4 weeks on average (if they store it at all). Most of the traders have only limited storage space in their homes, in the market and occasionally in rented warehouses. They are not conversant with good warehousing practices. A visit to the markets where these traders operate amply demonstrates the inadequacy of warehousing facilities and their warehousing practices.
The new breed of long-distance traders Most of the marketing intermediaries in the maize trade have very little or no formal education. They normally do not have business or marketing skills, and may not keep accounts or have financial statements. It thus becomes very difficult for banks to assess the creditworthiness of these traders. However, a group of young men and women in the maize trade who are better educated and more aware of modern business practices is emerging. Most of these traders operate in the long-distance wholesaler category. They buy directly from farmers, local assemblers and bulking markets in the producing areas. They may also use local commission agents who buy maize from the farmers on their behalf. Some of these traders advance money to the commission agents for this purpose.
These traders normally obtain contracts from feedmills and poultry farmers and deliver the maize and other produce they purchase to them. They may also sell maize to food preparers, market-based wholesalers or retailers. These sales may be on credit. The farmers may hand over the maize to the trader and collect the proceeds after the trader has sold the produce. This emerging breed of traders is now 'the big boys of the trade'. Some may have a turnover of between 600 tonnes and 1000 tonnes or more compared to the maximum of 120 bags purchased by the old breed of long-distance traders. Some members of this emerging group use, for a fee, storage facilities belonging to the GFDC. They may also dry the maize with commercial maize driers. This emerging group appears to be progressive and could be encouraged to expand and increase the efficiency of its operations, if some of the constraints facing the traders are addressed.
CONSTRAINTS FACING MARKETING PARTICIPANTS
The constraints traders face can be categorized into three:
Lack of government support
Government support for the private sector in the marketing of food crops has been lacking. In the case of traditional export crops such as cocoa, coffee and sheanuts, there is an elaborate marketing system and environment which has been fostered by various governments. These crops are purchased by weight. In addition, there are government-approved quality standards. The producers of these crops do not undertake their storage. The buyers of other cash crops which are produced to feed local manufacturing concerns also have quality standards, and purchase them by weight.
There are no such arrangements for the food crop sector. As stated earlier, buyers may purchase maize which may vary in weight by as much as 20%. The moisture content may be far from ideal (i.e. above the 13% moisture content which is desirable) and this may result in an effective increase in the price of maize purchased by the trader when the maize is dried to the required moisture content level. Inexperienced traders may suffer losses as a result of moulds which may form on grains with a high moisture content. While governments have been concerned with food security and have arranged with foreign donors to construct modern warehousing and drying facilities (including silos for the GFDC, which handles less than 5% of the marketable surplus), the private sector has not been encouraged to acquire any of these facilities. As a result, private marketing intermediaries do not have ready access to improved drying and storage facilities. There are no nationally recognized weights or grades for the private sector.
The private marketing intermediaries also face high transport costs which may range between 35% and 65% of marketing costs. These increased costs are partly due to the bad condition of roads in most areas producing food crops.
Dealers in maize and other commodities have also had cause to be wary of governments who, in previous times, have accused those traders who have stored produce of 'hoarding'. People with money who could have entered the maize trade to take advantage of the wide variation in prices have been reluctant to enter the cereal trade for fear of losing their capital.
Ambiguous government policies on exports and imports have created problems for maize traders. Some maize traders have been unable to fulfil export commitments; others have suffered losses as a result of sudden imports of yellow maize (through donor food aid).
While farmers obtain extension advice on production methods, the marketing intermediaries do not have access to any advisory service which would help them to improve or acquire the skills required for their trade.
Constraints from the financial system (lack of capital)
Lack of capital was cited as the major problem for maize traders in Armah's study (1989). In another study by Asante et al. (1989), it was observed that only 14% of traders obtain institutional credit for their marketing operations. Most of the traders normally use their own capital, which is inadequate and, as a result, the traders deal in small volumes (the local assemblers, on average, handle 12-14 bags per week during the post-harvest season and only 2 bags per week during the preharvest season). In a recent survey (Courter et al., 1993), it was observed that at Kaneshie (Accra, Ghana) most of the long-distance traders had a turnover of between 3580 bags every two weeks. There are, however, a few long-distance wholesalers (especially the Gao traders and the emerging young men and women traders identified earlier in the paper) who handle up to 100 bags or more (220 lb/bag) per week.
All categories of traders have indicated their belief that they could double their volume of business if they could gain access to credit. The formal banking system is mainly based on collateral banking. Most of these traders may not have assets which are acceptable to the banks as collateral, and even those who have are limited by the value of their assets. The concerns of the banks centre on the difficulty of assessing the creditworthiness of individual traders and the high cost of collecting debts from a large number of traders.
Constraints from the mode of operation
In the marketing of traditional export crops and other cash crops (such as cotton and tobacco) the farmer takes his produce to a buying depot and the crop is bulked. However, in the case of cereals (especially during the preharvest period) the marketing intermediaries have to move from village to village or compound to compound to find maize to purchase. This mode of operation greatly increases the transaction costs.
The non-availability of storage facilities is a major constraint that marketing intermediaries at all levels face. The high cost of procuring modern storage and drying facilities is beyond the reach of the majority of traders.
The traders also face the problem of the risk of price change in consuming markets because of their inability to monitor supply and demand. The very large number of buyers may also limit the volume that each local assembler can purchase.
MEASURES AND STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE PRIVATE MARKET INTERMEDIARIES
This section attempts to identify policies, strategies and actions which could be adopted to improve the performance of the private sector in the marketing of food crops, especially grains and pulses. The policies needed to provide an enabling environment would have to emanate from the government.
The negative (or, at best, indifferent) attitude of governments towards the private marketing intermediaries, especially maize traders, is a major impediment. The traders gave fear of being accused of hoarding as one of the reasons for their unwillingness to store maize. It is thus crucial that the government produces a policy statement promising non-interference in the activities of private marketing intermediaries. For instance, a situation should be created in which it would not be possible for anybody to seize produce stored by any trader and would allow traders to export food crops if they so desired.
It should be possible for the government to evince the same interest in private marketing intermediaries that it shows to farmers and private sector entrepreneurs who supply the farmers. To this end, the government should use the extension service to provide advice and training programmes for the private sector entrepreneurs in the maize trade.
A policy which would enhance the maize trade would be the introduction of weights, standards (quality standards) and grades in the cereal and pulses trade. Marketing of maize would then be uniform throughout the country. This might not be too difficult since small-scale farmers producing cocoa, coffee, sheanuts, cotton and tobacco sell produce on the basis of quality standards and weights used in the industry. In those circumstances, both the farmers and traders would have to be given some training in the quality standards for the industry. The use of quality standards at the primary level would make it easier to introduce an inventory credit scheme for the maize traders.
In view of the diminished role of the GFDC in the maize trade, the government should also consider leasing some of the silos and warehouses being operated by the GFDC to private sector entrepreneurs in the maize trade. This would prevent a situation where there is excess storage capacity in the system which is inaccessible to private sector traders.
The high cost of transport from farm to market is attributable, to a large extent, to the poor condition of the roads in the producing areas. One other policy which the government could implement to help traders is the expansion and acceleration of the rural road improvement programme.
The division of the Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (PPMED) of the Ministry of Agriculture should be strengthened in order to provide more up-to-date and accurate information on supply and demand for cereals and other agricultural crops. This information should be readily accessible to traders. The government could also use this information to prevent any unnecessary imports of maize. Some traders have suffered severe losses as a result of imports of yellow corn (through food aid) when there is already enough maize in the system.
The private sector traders may buy produce direct from farmers, farmer/sellers, commission agents and local bulking markets. The high transaction costs that are incurred by the movement of traders from one village to the next could be reduced with the establishment of buying centres. This practice should not be difficult to institute as Ghanaian farmers have already been through this process with the cocoa, coffee, sheanut, tobacco and cotton industries. The GFDC also uses buying centres for purchasing maize. However it should be tried first in areas where maize is more or less a cash crop, or there is a large volume of marketable surplus.
One of the constraints which limits the volume of business, especially during the post-harvest period, is credit. Alternative methods of providing credit to the private marketing intermediaries include:
The first method is practiced on a very limited scale and only helps the farmer to dispose of his/her produce. The second is also used on a limited scale since most of the traders do not have bankable assets. An alternative which is not currently in use in Ghana is the inventory credit scheme, which has great potential. Some banks and a few companies which have experience in warehousing have shown interest in such a scheme and it appears to appeal to some long-distance traders (particularly Gao traders). The introduction of weight and quality standards in the maize trade is essential for an inventory scheme and the government should consider the preparation of rules and regulations for operation of an inventory credit scheme as a matter of urgency.
There are problems that must be addressed in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the private marketing intermediaries. The turnover for most of these traders is quite small. Several reasons have been given for this. One which seems to be beyond the control of traders is the productivity of the farmers. The fallow period has shortened and this has had an adverse impact on land productivity. There is a need to encourage the use of fertilizer by the farmers. However, most of these farmers cannot afford the high cost of fertilizer, especially after the removal of subsidies.
Provision of input credit to farmers by traders may be an effective method of channelling loanable funds to farmers. Traders who purchase maize at buying centres may stock fertilizer and other inputs and provide these to the farmers on credit. Another approach could be through private market intermediaries guaranteeing inputs and services which the farmer would receive from an input dealer and could be repaid later in the year. (Private input sellers could also be encouraged to buy produce from farmers.) A few traders already supply inputs to farmers informally.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
An attempt has been made to identify the characteristics of private market participants and the problems that they face. Some suggested measures to improve the performance of the private sector in the marketing of cereals have been highlighted. Appropriate recommendations have been made. The maize market is basically a private sector activity. The majority of the traders are women who operate on a very low turnover. Identifiable participants in the market are the farmer/seller, the local assembler, long-distance traders, commission agents, market-based wholesalers and the market-based retailers. The characteristics of these participants have been discussed, touching on the volume of business, storage facilities, financing of trade, experiences and mode of operation. The emergence of a new breed of young and educated people in the maize trade has been recognized and their characteristics and mode of operation described. The marketing of maize in Ghana is not sophisticated. No quality standards and grades have been established. Most of the traders operate on a very small scale and use their own funds. Most of the traders have very little formal business and/or marketing skills.
The lack of enabling government policy initiatives which would improve the private sector traders' efficiency and effectiveness is a major obstacle to improving efficiency and effectiveness in the maize trade. There are no rules and regulations for the conduct of the maize trade as pertains in the cocoa, coffee, sheanuts, cotton and tobacco trades. Another major constraint the traders face is their lack of access to adequate storage facilities (even though the GFDC, which handles less than 5% of the marketable surplus, has excess storage capacity and continues to build more). Unclear government policies have given wrong signals to traders about storage and exports of maize.
Lack of finance for the maize trade is a serious problem faced by the traders.
Unlike farmers who obtain extension advice to improve upon their production skills, the market intermediaries do not obtain any extension advice for their activities. Measures that have been identified and that would enhance the performance of private sector maize traders include: appropriate policy statements assuring the traders that under no circumstance will inventory or stock-in-trade be seized; the introduction of weights and standards grading in the maize trade; and release of excess storage capacity under the control of GFDC to the private sector.
Other measures include: the mounting of training programmes to upgrade the technical, financial, business and marketing skills of the private sector maize traders; expansion and acceleration of the programme to rehabilitate rural roads; the provision of more up-to-date and accurate information on prices and the supply and demand for cereals and other agricultural crops; and measures to reduce transaction costs such as the establishment of buying centres in producing areas. Government support of innovative ways of providing credit would help to alleviate the financial constraints the operators in the food crop sector face.
The provision of input and inventory credits and other services such as ploughing would assure the traders of being able to purchase large volumes of maize which would reduce unit transaction costs and increase profits.
Recommendations
The government should, as a matter of urgency, issue a policy statement on measures intended to enhance the performance of private sector participants in the maize trade. Such measures should include provisions for the export of agricultural crops, extension support and training programmes for the traders such as are available for crop producers and are proposed for private fertilizer sellers.
Preparation of rules and regulations for the operation of an inventory scheme
To support the introduction of inventory credit scheme the government should solicit the input of experts conversant in this area to draw up appropriate guidelines, rules and regulations for the operation of the scheme.
Upgrading of marketing
Some of the emerging young maize traders should be targeted and helped. It is time that traders with the potential to expand are helped to move to higher levels of operation, for example, the marketing of own brands of maize as whole grains, milled grains or other processed forms.
Introduction of grades, standards and weights in the maize trade
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the maize traders and the Standards Board should agree on grades for the maize trade.
Policy on agricultural trade The government should provide a clear policy on both the import and export of agricultural crops, especially food crops, and including maize.
Mounting training programmes for the traders To support and enhance the performance of the private sector maize traders, a training programme to upgrade technical, marketing, financial and business skills should be implemented.
Provision of market information The appropriate department of MOA should be strengthened so that up-to-date prices, and supply-and-demand information for cereals and other agricultural crops could be collected and made available to traders.
Donor support may be required in the implementation of the recommendations concerning the mounting of training programmes and the strengthening of institutions for providing timely and relevant market information.
REFERENCES
ARMAH, P.L. (1989) Post-harvest maize marketing efficiency: the Ghanaian experience. Doctoral Thesis submitted to University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. 353 pp.
ASANTE, E.O., ASUMING-BREMPONG, S. and BRUCE, P.A. (1989) Ghana: grain marketing study. Consultancy Report prepared for Ministry of Agriculture, Ghana, and World Bank. 133 pp.
COULTER, J., ASANTE, E.O. and OFEIABOAGYE, E. (1993) Financing of agricultural trade. Report of a Seminar organized by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Accra, Ghana, 4 May 1993. 24 pp. + appendices.
OBENG, H.B., ERBYNN, K.G. and ASANTE, E.O. (1990) Fertilizer requirements and use in Ghana. Report submitted to the Government of Ghana by Tropical Agricultural Development Consultancy, Accra. 192 pp.
Other relevant papers
ALDERMAN, H. and SHIVELY, G. (1991) Prices and Markets in Ghana. Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program, Working Paper No. 10. Ithaca, New York, US. 57 pp.
ASANTE, E.O., DAHOUI, P.K. and OFEIABOAGYE, E. (1993) Strategies to reduce fertilizer marketing cost. Technical Report prepared for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana, and the International Fertilizer Development Centre, Accra.