INAPPROPRIATE ASSUMPTION OF ROLES

It is quite common, in the early days of a market linkage partnership, for a company to find itself obliged to take on a role which should strictly be performed by the smallholders (case study), or for the intermediary to be tempted to take on a task which should be one of the company's's obligations (case study).

Though such action is understandable, and indeed may be necessary to keep the partnership alive, it is hazardous as it often proves difficult to transfer the role back to the more appropriate partner once the precedent has been set. If the intermediary does take on one of the company's or smallholders' roles, it should charge at least part of the cost to the company or the smallholders in order to give them the incentive to take on the role themselves in future.