RA 00048.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

egional sense are well known. It is time to move
on from these generalities to the specifics of each
case.
Marketing Arrangements 1
Despite the importance that food crops play in the
economies of the WASAT, prior to the drought of
1968-73, they were almost completely neglected
in government planning. This did not mean that
there were no effects on the food crops. Rather,
they suffered from a policy of neglect. In particular,
export promotion policies which encouraged
cash crops resulted in a deterioration of the food
crop sector.
The 1970s witnessed some important changes.
There was a general shift in goverment policy
objectives from producing cash crops to food
crops, as emphasis was placed on food selfsufficiency.
In the realm of production, extensive
research began to develop improved seed
varieties and better technical packages for sorghum,
millet, and maize. Concurrently, these
governments became aware of the potential role
of marketing in general agricultural development,
specifically for cereal grains. The first result of this
awareness (whether for better or worse) was
attempts at extensive public intervention in grain
marketing. Each country set up its own grain
marketing board: Mali-OPAM, Mauritania-OMC,
Niger-OPVN, Senegal-ONCAD, and Upper Volta
-OFNACER. 2
These state agencies were established for
essentially the same reasons. The production and
commercialization of the staple food crops are
politically as well as economically strategic sectors
of the economy for state intervention and
control. The economic justification for such intervention
rests in the long held belief that traditional
traders are monopsonists, and that this coupled
with their dual role as local moneylenders, put
them in a strong position to exploit the peasant
both as a producer and as a consumer. His need
1. For an in-depth presentation of marketing arrangements
and pricing policy in the CILSS countries, the
reader is referred to CILSS (1977).
2. Nigeria has had a marketing agency for food crops
since before independence. It is virtually ineffective
in the area of grain marketing. It is not discussed in
this paper.
for cash soon after harvest forces him to sell to
monopoly traders who offer low prices for grain.
Similarly, his indebtedness to this same trader
strengthens the trader's hold over him.
In sum, it was (and still is) believed that private
sector grain trading was heavily monopsonized
and monopolized, and that economic and social
forces serve to strengthen this structure and
increase the inequitable division of the benefits of
trade. Thus, the grain boards have as their stated
objectives: (a) to offer "fairer" prices to producers
while offering a reasonably priced supply of
grain to urban consumers; (b) to stabilize intraannual
producer prices; (c) to establish and regulate
security stocks; and (d) to organize grain
exports. The next section is a brief description of
both state and private marketing channels.
Major Marketing Channels
Each of these countries now has a dual market
system: state-run marketing and private trading
The particular mix between the two depends on a
number of factors, but in each the two systems
interact. Most frequently the literature groups the
market participants into such categories as:
assembler, transporter, wholesaler, and retailer.
Individual agents, however, often fulfill more than
one function and each category has a different
meaning when put into different marketing channels.
The relations between the agents and the
number and specific tasks depend on the region
and the channel.
More useful than categorizing agents, for
understanding the way in which grain is marketed,
are descriptions of the different types of channels
through which the grain flows. 3 The marketing
channels can be divided into two basic categories:
grain that bypasses the market place and grain
that passes through it. Within the second group
are two subgroups: privately and state traded
grain. Since all the grain that is marketed by the
state passes through the market, this section is
divided in two: state marketing arrangements and
private sector trade. The latter includes grain that
bypasses the market place.
3. For an in-depth discussion of the functions of
different agents and for a description of the various
marketing channels see Wilcock and Ouedraogo (in
press).
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