The price paid directly to a farmer for their product, at the farm.
Theoretically, the farm gate price would be lower than the price the farmer would receive if she or he transported the product to another location to sell it; for example, to a town market or buying shed in a different village. The price received at off-farm locations should be higher, to reflect the costs of transport and marketing.
In practice, the farm gate price is often the same price a farmer will receive elsewhere. However, sometimes the price beyond the farm gate is in fact higher.
For example, some farmers in Sierra Leone Gola Rainforest-edge communities live near the large trading town of Kenema, where a number of cocoa buyers operate. If a farmer sells cocoa directly from the farm, she or he receives the farm gate price.
If the farmer transports cocoa to Kenema, she or he receives the “Kenema price,” which is higher than the farm gate price, because it reflects the costs of transporting cocoa from the farm to Kenema.
Próximamente versión en español
Authored by
FCIA Value Chain Committee
Trade Organization
Kristy Leissle, Scholar & Author, Cocoa & Chocolate Industries
Researcher
References
“Concepts on Price Data,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Economic and Social Development Stream, Accessed September 29, 2022
Personal communication: “Kenema price” example described to Kristy Leissle by members of Ngoleagorbu Cocoa Farmers’ Union, Kenema, Sierra Leone, May 2018
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