Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya

This paper describes a randomized controlled trial conducted by DrumNet, a Pride Africa project, in Kenya. Many farmers in the developing world grow crops for local or personal consumption, ignoring more profitable export options. The study analyzed reasons for this behavior, and assessed whether a package of services can help farmers earn more income.

DrumNet provides smallholder farmers with information about switching to export crops, offers loans for purchasing agricultural inputs, and provides marketing services by facilitating transactions with exporters. Evaluation after one year indicated that DrumNet services led to increased production of export oriented crops, lower marketing costs and improved household income. However, a year later, the exporter refused to buy cash crops from the farmers as farm conditions did not satisfy European export requirements.

DrumNet collapsed in the region as farmers were forced to sell to middlemen and defaulted on their loans. The paper states that farmers probably hesitate to adopt profitable export crops due to such inherent risk. In conclusion, DrumNet succeeded in building trust between farmers and buyers. However, its success depended on farmers’ certification, for which it should have secured adequate resources.