AVAILABILITY

Even when smallholders can afford inputs, they may be unavailable or not available at the right time. This is due to a combination of factors:

• The market demand for agricultural inputs by smallholders is generally small and therefore fewer inputs are available.
• The equipment that is required to apply the chemicals, fertilizers, etc correctly may not be available.
• Farming is a highly seasonal activity so inputs are required at specific times. Poor timing of input delivery or application can often depress crop yields or worse still cause the crop to fail.
• Often local agricultural agents or suppliers simply do not exist in the locality. This means that smallholders often have to travel some distance before they can obtain the required inputs.

Action: Exporting companies which also provide services to contracted growers are vital in overcoming the constraints to input availability and so making appropriate inputs available to smallholders in a timely manner. Such companies can make agricultural inputs available in one of three main ways: (1)Contracted farmers or outgrower schemes;(2)Local agents or agricultural merchants;(3)Farmer groups.

Companies contracting smallholders can deal directly with them to provide the services and agricultural inputs they require to grow crops for export (Zimbabwe's experience with intensively managed outgrower schemes)

Companies can collaborate with local agents or agricultural merchants to stock and distribute the required inputs to smallholders. Such agents are especially useful as they usually know which farmers are reliable users of inputs. This is especially important when the inputs are supplied on credit. The CARE Agribusiness Entrepreneur Network and Training Development Programme is an interesting and successful example of this.

Companies can encourage the formation of farmer groups, which are formally linked to the company. see Forming and managing producer groups and to case studies Uganda Vanilla Growers Associationand British American Tobacco, Uganda.

More information on providing inputs: affordability; access to information; uncertainty and risk, the commercial context.