SEAD: Marketing

CARE focuses on developing marketing linkages and improving market efficiencies and scale, which are key to agricultural and non-agricultural based income security. This includes identifying market opportunities, supporting fair trade, developing green markets, improving processing and storage infrastructure and practices, organizing producer groups, addressing quality control issues and disseminating market information.

CARE's Agri-business Entrepreneur Network and Training (AGENT) Program in Zimbabwe works to improve the livelihood of small farmers by increasing their access to vital agricultural resources at competitive prices and by linking them to a network of rural traders or agents. CARE serves as a broker between agents and agricultural input distributors to improve the terms of purchase and transportation received by agents. CARE also works with the farmers to help them successfully market their produce. A total of 1700 farmers have been trained. The success of AGENT has led to an estimated gross benefit of $3 million to the Zimbabwe rural economy.