Linking rural farmers to markets using ICTs

Book excerpt: Access to markets and marketing information by smallholder farmers depending on agriculture in developing countries have always been challenging. Factors such as poor road infrastructure, illiteracy, financial constraints, poor communication means and lack of access to information, all limited their access to markets. These smallholders depend on traditional means of communication and sell their produce at the farm gate and local markets. This has not been fruitful for these poor farmers as traders, intermediaries and other stakeholders in the chain take a large share of their produce. As a result, rural farmers remain poor and agriculture contributes little to their income, economy and welfare.