IPM and Marketing

IPM farmers are frequently asking how their extra efforts to grow under IPM can be rewarded through higher prices or more reliable access to markets. To do this, it is important to look beyond technical IPM issues at farm level and consider the whole supply chain. The training curriculum will need adjustments to incorporate basic knowledge on marketing and post-harvest to enable farmers to develop their marketing strategies. Not all IPM FFS alumni will move into marketing but for those who will, IPM Programmes must be able to provide the necessary support such as information and tools as well as practical approaches for marketing their produce.

More detailed information about marketing is available on:
Horticultural Marketing - Marketing Extension Guide No. 5 from FAO, Rome. Provides detailed advice on marketing and post-harvest matters and suggests ways in which the extension worker can assist farmers to identify markets for their produce.

Quality and Safety in the traditional horticultural marketing chains of Asia by Andrew W. Shepherd. Endeavours to examine what happens within the horticultural supply chain to affect safety and quality and what are the constraints faced within that chain that impact adversely on the ability to make improvements.

Marketing and Agribusiness Resources CD-Rom containing all of FAO's marketing and agribusiness publications of the past decade.

Course of Agribusiness Management for Producers' Associations. An FAO training manual on how to run an agribusiness to help poor farmers turn into better business people.

For more information on marketing initiatives, strategies and constraints for IPM crops from each programme country click on the links below.
Bangladesh
Cambodia
China
Laos
Nepal
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam