How Farmers Can Sell Their Farm Products without Middlemen?

One of the biggest challenges farmers confront these days is the need to market their goods because of a lack of marketing. This exposes them to the whims of middlemen, who buy the farmers’ products at a lower price and then resell it at higher prices directly to consumers, thereby making the total profit that is intended to go to the farmer.

Farmers are the most severe sufferers of this system. The food producers cannot afford two square meals and are in poverty, which is why many consider farming a loss business aimed at the poor. Although there are a variety of programs to help farmers, they are hardly implemented because greedy landlords and politicians line their pockets with money meant for their benefit. Farmers have no idea of these policies, and corruption is a significant factor in preventing the benefits from getting to the farmers.

Also read – Why Agricultural Income is Not Taxable?

Middlemen’s interventions increase prices for consumers, and farmers face the cost of production in their efforts to increase production but rarely receive fair prices for their products from middlemen, who are referred to as big gatekeepers of farms.

The middlemen make the actual profit by purchasing the agricultural products at almost bargain prices and selling them at higher prices to customers.

Agriculture Supply chain

Farmers—-> Middle-Men—–> Consumer/Customer

Without any direct connection with customers, farmers are left to middlemen who take up the entire gap between production and the eventual sale of the product.

The middlemen are extremely powerful, and farmers frequently find themselves at a disadvantage, despite being the primary producers. Monopoly is risky, regardless of whether a public or private organization runs it.

Because there are only a few middlemen, it is profitable to create a cartel and deliberately increase bids that push prices higher. This, in turn, separates the producers from consumers, robs farmers of greater profits from their products, and the average consumers of fair prices on their agricultural products.

Also read- How To Start Farming With No Money?

How Farmers Can Sell Their Farm Products without Intermediaries

1. Sell Produce Directly to the Consumers.

Certain farmers would instead hold off until their crop is ready to sell before they begin communicating with their neighbors or prospective buyers about the availability of these products on their farms. This is among the biggest mistakes that farmers make.

The purpose of farming initially is to produce, sell and make money from your product. But this can only be accomplished if you have buyers who want to buy the produce. So, you don’t have to wait until your farm is fully stocked before you start marketing to your customers. You can begin your marketing before even starting your production process in order to find buyers or even before you start the production process.

2. Create a Retail Outlet to Sell Produce Directly to Customers

As a farmer, you should not solely rely on selling your entire crop simultaneously. So, it is crucial to be prepared in an emergency or as an alternative. So, in addition to having a suitable storage facility, you must have a shop where your farm’s products can be displayed and sold to the public directly.

3. Diversify Production Techniques

One of the ways that any farmer can gain more income through their farms is by diversifying their crops and making other goods that could draw more customers and create decent returns for them.

If, for instance, you are a farmer of pineapples, instead of allowing middlemen to buy the fruit from your farm at a low cost and causing you to lose money or letting them over mature and become rotten, are you thinking of making juice from them and then selling it as pineapple juice?

4. Form Cooperative Societies to Operate Together

Farmers need a healthy environment that allows them to receive the price of their products in line with customers’ requirements by trading and interacting directly in the market.

The current supply chain must be reduced in order to bring producers as close to the consumer as possible. Too many intermediaries could be an obstacle for farmers who may be left with an unjustly small profit on their products.

5. Better Storage Facilities

Improved storage facilities can help increase the capacity of farmers to store their products in accordance with the market demand. Farmers are in situations where they realize that in a few days or weeks from now, they will be able to receive an increase in price for the product but isn’t able to store the product due to the absence of adequate storage facilities. It causes the farmer to be very anxious and may choose to offer the product for a bargain price instead of letting it go to be thrown away.

6. Creating Farmer Favorable Policies

To stop the abuse of farmers, it is essential to bring in policies to boost the efficiency of the farm, post-harvest technology, and improved storage facilities.

If we want consumers to pay less and the farmer to earn more, the private sector needs to be boosted by establishing private mandates that allow farmers to sell their crops directly to the end consumer.

To make sure that farmers profit from the advantages of this, entrepreneurship growth must be encouraged, along with improved marketing skills to eliminate the information gap. It is not possible to force farmers to sell only in the markets that the government regulates.

Final Words

There are several ways that farmers can earn more money from agriculture if it’s correctly executed. By now, we are sure that you’ve learned at least one or two ideas about how farmers can market their products without Middle-Men?