Traditional Food Crop Marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

The present study aims to contribute to the scarce literature on traditional food crop marketing by analysing the factors influencing (a) the household’s decision to participate in the market and (b) the selling prices obtained by the household. Using an econometric approach, we analyse household data from 270 finger millet producers in western Kenya. A main focus of the study lies on the role of gender and farmer group participation. Results show that group membership increases the probability of market participation and is of particular importance for female farmers, who obtain higher selling prices when participating in a group.