![]() ![]() However, it has been noted that globalization favours large scale farmers who are considered reliable business partners and generate lower transaction costs ( World Bank, 2008). For instance, globalization and the use of internet have created new opportunities for smallholders to improve their position in the international market place. Several measures have been put in place to enhance farmers’ access to such markets. Lack of these amenities limits smallholder farmers’ participation in markets that offer profitable returns ( World Bank, 2008). Additionally, engagement in agricultural activities requires post-harvest facilities for the supply of quality produce. ![]() Smallholders further face other challenges including poor infrastructure ( Omosa, 2006), lack of access to up-to-date market information, and difficulty in accessing technical advisory services and agricultural inputs ( World Bank, 2008). The production and supply of high-quality products often require financial investments which most smallholder farmers cannot afford. With most of the world’s rural poor engaging in agriculture, encouraging smallholders’ access to global export markets for high-value products is vital in increasing incomes and hence alleviating poverty, which is predominant in Sub-Saharan Africa. Smallholder farmers can be empowered to take advantage of new market opportunities for high-value agricultural products which have emerged as a result of increasing global consumption of these products, particularly vegetables and fruits ( Temu and Temu, 2006). The low participation in the export market has been attributed to challenges related to increased consumer demand for high-quality products owing to the rising number of supermarkets in developed countries ( Dolan et al., 2002 Henson et al., 2008) and food safety regulations. Yet, fewer than 2 per cent produce directly for export ( Bawden et al., 2002). Kenya in particular has 90 per cent of smallholder farmers in all but the arid regions engaging in the production of horticultural products ( Mutuku et al., 2004). ![]() To the extent that about 70 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods ( Nnadi et al., 2012), improving smallholder farmers’ access to markets both locally and internationally could be one of the strategies to achieving the eight millennium development goals. The full terms of this licence may be seen at. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of the article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. ![]() This work is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 3.0) Licence. Published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ![]()
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