ISSN 2375-0693
African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 13 (5), pp. 001-013, May, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Farmers' Use of Market Information and Choice of Transaction Mode: A Study of Maize Farmers in Benin
Sylvain Kpenavoun Chogou* and Esaïe Gandonou
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
Accepted 12 March, 2025
To sell the surpluses of maize, the main staple in Benin, farmers could choose among three modes of transaction: they could sell under a contract with itinerant traders, or sell without a contract at the farm gate or on distant markets. It has been postulated that farmers will choose a profitable mode of transaction if they receive reliable market information on the prevailing market conditions. Using detailed farm household survey data from Benin, this paper applied the Nested Logit model to test this hypothesis. The results showed that farmers will opt to sell at the farm gate without a contract if they receive market information and use it to plan their market transactions. However, such a decision was not related to the reception of market information channeled through the government supported ‘Market Information System' but rather to information obtained from the farmers’ personal or professional networks.
Key words: Farmers, modes of transaction, liberalization, public market information system.