Samenvatting

Improving smallholder farmers’ access to markets is critical in helping towards raising rural incomes and reducing poverty. Small-scale farmers in developing countries are excluded from formal markets due to power imbalance in the value chains, lack of transparency, and presence of too many intermediaries. Farmers in Ahero irrigation scheme, Kenya, have been farming since 1969, making them the most experienced rice farmers in Kenya. Marketing is however not organised despite the presence of several Government millers and farmer support programs in the County Government and National Irrigation Board. Majority of the rice farmers sell rice to informal traders at lower prices, shying way from Government controlled marketing channels.