Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural chains Family farming Productivity Rural development Trade

New book identifies three ways to improve market access for agricultural producers

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The document drafted by IICA specialists presents success factors and positive experiences implemented in other Latin American countries.

Short supply chains,  supply chain linkages and commercial linkages for differentiated products are three stretagies that favor linking and market presence.

San Jose, 19 January 2017 (IICA). A new document, published by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), details three different commercialization strategies that could allow producers to enter and remain in the market. 

The commercialization of agricultural products is one of the most complex components of agricultural production. In many cases, it poses a serious challenge for producers. Limited infrastructure, scant organization, inadequate market vision, and poor value added are some of the hurdles that producers face.

The document Commercialization Strategies that Facilitate Market Access for Agricultural Producers identified three stretegies that favor linking and market presence:

  • short supply chains, such as fairs and farmers’ markets
  • supply chain linkages, school feeding programs
  • commercial linkages for differentiated products, such as marketing of products with differentiated seals (fair trade, origin, organic, etc.)

“These strategies facilitate knowledge of consumer demands, with the aim of developing processes that add value and help small producers integrate into the market, thus allowing them to improve their profits”, said Fatima Almada, leader of Sustainability of Family Farming at IICA.

For each strategy recommended, conditions and success factors are presented to enhance its function. The document includes a report of about 50 cases in the Americas and the Caribbean that may be used as reference, and one to evaluate the initiatives as well.  

“It is hoped that the institutional and commercial innovations encouraged though this document will contribute to increase agricultural productivity and competitiveness, the production of high quality and healthy food, and the well-being of rural territories”, stated Daniel Rodriguez, leader of Agribusiness and Commercialization at IICA.

This document, a free online publication, is a public good that IICA presents to its Member States to assist agricultural producers with market entry and sustainable management. It was drafted by both the Competitiveness and Sustainability of Agricultural Chains and the Productivity and Sustainability of Family Agriculture flagship projects at IICA.

 

More information: daniel.rodriguez@iica.inthernado.riveros@iica.intfatima.almada@iica.int

 

Publication: Commercialization Strategies that Facilitate Market Access for Agricultural Producers

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins