Dr. Asumey Boakye, an Agro Insurance Economist Lecturer at the College of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana (UG) who made the call said farmers stood a great chance to do successful marketing if they conducted extensive market research on appropriate marketing strategies before production.
The Agro Insurance Economist Lecturer says farmers and producers must conduct intensive market surveys to determine the demands of customers before going into productions.
Farmers must engage more in research on marketing on how to sell their farm produce before producing their crops, he admonished.
Market research, according to Dr. Asumey Boakye determines the target customers, the demand, the competitive products to produce and the quantity and quality of products to suit targeted clients which finally leads to maximization of profits.
The Agro Insurance Economist Lecturer who disclosed this during the ‘Akuafo Sesen’ segment of the Rite Morning Ride Wednesday averred that there was the need for government to intensify its modules on educating farmers on technology and market research to easily find market for their produce.
Similar calls have sought to avoid the recurrent issue of post-harvest losses and the situation where farmers were forced to sell their produce at cheap prices to buyers.
Other calls have criticized producers as just producing to the open market without a target group to determine the quantity, quality and even the cost involved adding that the cost of production by farmers should determine the market prices of their produce.
Experts contend that proper marketing survey invariably leads to the expansion of farms as the customer base increases through a multiplicity of means such as taking advantage of opportunities provided by social media and mobile technology to market and sell produce before harvest.
Good customer and relationship management, Mr. Acheampong added, remains one of the critical factors which must be included in a competitive farming business. He thus advised small scale farmers to form Farmer Base Organizations (FBOs) as a measure to fix appreciable market prizes.
Source, Prince Paul Amuzu/www.ritefmonline.org/princeamuzu667@gmail.com
