Access to agricultural markets and marketing information are essential factors in promoting competitive markets and improving agricultural sector development. The agricultural sector employs majorities in developing countries and it contributes greatly to the development of these countries. Unluckily, majorities of the farmers are smallholders living in isolated rural areas and thus lack approp...

— Small-scale assemblers are both the most vilified and least understood actors in food value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing on data from Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique, this article explores how maize assemblers influence the market access conditions of small-scale farmers. Assembly markets for maize are found to be highly competitive in terms of the number of traders operating a...

BACKGROUND While farmers' markets are a potential strategy to increase access to fruits and vegetables in rural areas, more information is needed regarding use of farmers' markets among rural residents. Thus, this study's purpose was to examine (1) socio-demographic characteristics of participants; (2) barriers and facilitators to farmers' market shopping in southern rural communities; and (3) ...

Urban and rural areas differ in economic, social and environmental terms. Due to the diverging dynamics in urban and rural areas, the social and economic distance between them might increase in the future even more. Rural entrepreneurs with linkages to urban areas are able to bridge the rural–urban divide by accessing some of the urban features, such as knowledge and markets, while at the same ...

This paper examines the effect of the poor road transportation network on crop production in one of the rural agrarian local government of Kwara State, Nigeria. A well-structured interview schedule was conducted to elicit information from 120 crop farmers using a two-stage sampling technique. Findings from the study revealed that the poor road transportation network in their area had led to a r...

nowadays, participation plays an important role as an effective approach in achieving a permanent livelihood and establishing a sustainable economic system in rural areas. in fact, the approach of participation creates an appropriate field for the continuity of rural economic systems by providing a proper background of cooperation and establishing an informational flow in different parts of pro...

Voluntary simplicity is often considered to be a sustainable lifestyle phenomenon buttressed by environment-friendly consumption practices. Voluntary simplicity is shaped by the individual as well as society, and marketplace interactions often impact voluntarily simplified approaches to consumption. Pertinent, therefore, is a consideration of how voluntary simplifiers negotiate the tensions bet...

Mobile technology and m-Commerce are transforming our digital economy to a mobile one, with new markets and mobile services worldwide. Today, the importance of communication and information access in a timely and efficient manner is critical for many industries: particularly those in rural and regional areas, due to their often limited Internet access and mobile coverage. This paper presents th...