THE process of moving food commodities from production areas to markets is rich with unique knowledge that you may not hear from farmers or traders, but from transporters.
In most value-chain studies, transporters are often overlooked as key informants, yet they get information from diverse actors and sources such as farmers, traders, other transporters, fuel dealers, equipment manufacturers and consumers.
Transporters also convey information from the market to farmers better than traders, who may want to hide some of the information to take advantage of unsuspecting farmers.
Having operated in food systems for many years, many transporters have built strong relationships with farming communities to the point of agreeing to move some commodities to the market on credit and being paid after the commodities have been sold. This practice is critical in enhancing market efficiency by limiting the use of cash at every value chain node. When cash is demanded at every value chain node, that can reduce income for farmers, most of whose commodities will be stuck on the farm until the buyer gets cash from the food vendors and walk-in consumers.
The role of lead transporters
In most cases, government departments and development agencies focus on capacitating lead farmers but forget lead transporters who have enormous influence on setting transport fares for diverse commodities and measurements or packaging used in transporting different commodities. Lead transporters, who have been in the game for more than a decade, are more knowledgeable about several supply chains because they deal with diverse farmers and traders in line with what needs to be moved from farm to market or from one market to the other. Some of the rich experiences and knowledge acquired by lead transporters include circumstances under which farmers are unable to pay for transport services. Farmers often tell the transporter cases where they are mistreated by the traders. All this information increases the transporter’s understanding of the food supply chain.
Keep Reading
- Minister bemoans shortage of schools
- BCC joins Green Cities initiative
- Drunkard kills church pastor
- DripSol’s one-stop-shop for farmers opens doors
The cost component of the transporter often builds up between the farmer and trader. For instance, farmers can decide to transport commodities to the market before talking to the trader. In some cases, price negotiations between farmers and traders can be handled better by the transporter because transport costs influence how much the farmer and the trader earn. If not negotiated properly, the cost component also has a bearing on relationships between farmers and the market.
Advantages of being exposed to different production areas
Transporters, who stick to their core business, tend to be more exposed to different production zones where they are hired to collect commodities and also deliver inputs. This enables transporters to follow production cycles intimately, making them well versed in how different actors respond to production cycles. While some farmers can specialise in tomatoes and some traders specialise in butternuts, the transporter is an all-rounder, which means he can acquire knowledge about diverse commodities that he carries from the farmers to markets. Along the way, transporters also hear all the pain points from farmers, traders and consumers. They also acquire skills on how to drive in different terrains, including slippery roads, during different seasons.
Given their very important, but under-rated role, transporters need capacity building in professional knowledge broking based on their experience in transporting different commodities, knowledge of farmers and farming areas. While transporters are considered part of the private sector, they play a very important social role in educating farmers and other value-chain actors about market dynamics and market performance.
Such a role must be recognised and incentivised because territorial markets have elements of a public good in that if the demand for their services is left to private players, the markets become exclusive to the disadvantage of the poor. If market services like transportation are completely privatised, the impact will be transferred to consumers through high prices of relish, for instance, which takes the biggest portion of the household budget.
The importance of building strong relationships with transporters-distributors
The destination of diverse commodities, including the level of freshness of the commodities by the time they reach the market, is in the hands of transporters. That is why it is critical for farmers and other value chain actors to build strong relationships with transporters.
Policymakers can also help by introducing a tracking system for transporters that move fresh commodities and other commodities along supply chains. Rural communities can be encouraged to process their raw commodities into finished products, but they need to cultivate relationships with distributors-transporters who know when and where the final product will go. Improving the supply chain can include capacitating transporters with technical skills on how to handle diverse commodities whose handling requirements can be quite knowledge-intensive.
Most farmers don’t often have a direct link with the market unless they have something to sell. On the other hand, transporters are always roving around farming communities collecting commodities irrespective of the season. This means transporters are very important types of middlemen whose underperformance and lack of support can negatively affect 50% of market functionality.
Transporters, who have been in the market for much longer, have relevant institutional memory about the market, including insights on how the market performs during droughts, during rainy seasons and during winter.
They can also share information on how women and youth have been pushed from potato trading to other commodities, for instance. Some have been in the market long enough to witness emerging trends like the evolution of a new class of women middlemen in a domain that was previously associated with men only, such as handling heavy-duty commodities.
- Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge broker and management specialist.