The institutional and technical constraints to peach marketing in lesotho

Author: 
Rafoneke, L. and Rantlo, A. M.

The study investigated both institutional and technical factors that act as constraints to marketing of peaches in Lesotho. A semi-structured interview schedule was used as a data collection tool in this study and thirty respondents were selected using pilot survey. Both descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regression model were used for data analysis. The results showed that expertise on grades and standards, storage facilities, value adding and contractual arrangements as major constraints towards peach marketing in Lesotho. Moreover, it was found that 90% of interviewed peach farmers in Lesotho prefer selling their produce in informal market outlets with an intention of reducing transportation costs. For peach farmers to sell their produce even in formal market outlets, it is therefore recommended that they form cooperatives or combine their produce when marketing so as to overcome the problem of transportation which is usually associated with high costs. Also, workshops on universal grading and standards should also be conducted for producers.

Paper No: 
754