Smallholder farmers often face the challenge of accessing markets and selling their produce at competitive prices because they produce in small quantities that may not be commercially viable.

The farmers are now being advised to adopt market interventions such as 'collective action' where they can come together as a group to pool their harvests and sell it in bulk.

A study conducted by the World Agroforesty Centre (ICRAF) in Cameroon has shown that effective implementation of collective action improves market access for smallholder producers of agroforestry products and reduces transaction costs leading to improved income and food security.

The UN has named 2014 'Year of Family Farming', and claimed "small-scale farming [is] inextricably linked to world food security." The ICRAF study, published earlier this week in a journal mainly dealing with environmental sustainability and looking at farmers in Africa, says smallholder farmers, who are mostly in rural areas, often do not have access to information regarding prices in urban areas. Furthermore, most production systems in Africa are done on a small scale and, hence, farmers acting individually are not able to participate in new markets such as supermarkets where larger quantities and standardization of products are often required.

ICRAF scientist and marketing specialist Dr. Amos Gyau and co-authors relay some of the lessons learned over two decades of implementing collective action in the report, and explain how collective action in marketing products – particularly agroforestry ones – has enabled farmers to access information and sell in markets which would otherwise be out of reach.

"Farmers are able to obtain the necessary information, meet quality standards and operate on a larger scale when they pool financial and labour resources together," said Dr. Gyau.

Dr Gyau concludes that the experience from Cameroon, offers an opportunity for effective implementation of collective action to benefit smallholder producers of agroforestry products by improving their access to markets and reducing transaction costs elsewhere in the world. However, he is keen to assert that, in order for collective action to succeed, it should be initiated by farmers' own motivation, be supported in other ways where possible (through access to credit or market information) and include social activities or elements.