| Abstract: |
| Interest in Rapid Market Appraisals (RMA) grew out of frustration with lengthy, costly and intensive formal surveys in developing countries that rarely generated any timely or sensible analysis. Doing a rapid market assessment for agroforestry product is an efficient way to obtain policy-relevant and intervention-focused information about any commodities that have market potentials. It avoids the cost, delays, and management burden of formal surveys while still providing the experienced analyst with a practical set of tools for identifying constraints and opportunities, cross-checking observations, and planning or monitoring strategic interventions. RMA enables us to orient production to market demand (quantity, quality, processing, packaging), identify niche products for which an area has comparative advantages, reorient production to respond to changing demand, and to facilitate a change in thinking from “production minded” to
“market minded”, facilitate a mental change from “middle-men are the bloodsuckers of the poor” to a different perception, in which each stakeholder has a role in the market chain. |
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