Scaling Impact: Improving Smallholder Farmers' Beneficial Access To Output Markets

Smallholder farmers constitute a majority of the working population in much of the developing world, and they tend to be stuck in patterns of semi-subsistence farming, unable to generate sufficient income to access key services to further their pathways out of poverty. Beneficial access to output markets—defined as farmers selling increased volumes of produce at an increased margin per unit with reduced volatility—is inextricably linked to smallholder farmer income.

This report aims to inform the efforts of donors and implementers of market systems development activities to improve smallholder farmers’ access to output markets. It does so by reviewing projects that have improved access, identifying the common barriers in those market systems, and describing the strategic approaches employed to address the barriers.