Chapter 8.62
8.62-Colourful Labels On Packaging To Help Small Scale Farmers
Kara-Lynn Hunt, University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Hunt,KL. (2022)Colourful Labels On Packaging To Help Small Scale Farmers , The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.farmpedia.org
How does colourful labeling add value to smallholder farmers
This chapter describes how smallholder farmers can increase their profits from selling products inside a package with a colourful printed label (RRRP, 2002). The attractiveness of packaging alone can double or even triple the selling price of a product. This is a marketing strategy also known as ‘value addition’ which means the process of taking a raw agricultural product and changing it into a more valuable state (Born, 2006). For example, a smallholder farmer could make a larger profit from selling shelled peanuts inside a colourful, labelled package as opposed to selling them unshelled from a large container. Identifiable colours or labels also helps to build a reputation and relationship with buyers including at local markets (RRRP, 2002). The colours, symbols and text on the packaging can provide different messages, as in if the product was ethically sourced, locally grown, pesticide free and/or organic (RRRP, 2002). Many smallholder farms tend to be organic as it is difficult to access agricultural inputs (e.g. pesticides) in some regions, which is ultimately a selling point amongst tourists (RRRP, 2002). Coloured, printed labels can be used for additional purposes including: identifying an organization (e.g. women’s farmer’s group name), differentiating crop varieties (since some are considered high value or special), health promoting effects of the products, potential allergies, and any input chemicals used and their potential dangers (Flipps, 2023).
The National Institute for Agricultural Research did a case study in Gables, France, that showed how a colourful labeling system, in an open-air market like a farmers’ market, was not only an information tool but it helped customers understand and form an opinion on their food system (Canard, 2016). This study showed the importance of a collaborative partnership between farmer and consumer but also between research institutions and manufacturers as the label on the package provides easily applicable information on agricultural practices (Canard, 2016).
How Smallholder Farms Can Adopt These Practices
The first key steps in implementing these colourful labels as a marketing strategy are as follows: Firstly the farmer must decide what services or benefits their product provides and how they want that interpreted by the consumer while also considering what materials (e.g. bags, labels, printer, ink) they may have an easier time acquiring. Once the brainstorming is done, it requires a financial assessment of the packaging/labelling materials needed. For example, needing large amounts of plastic to wrap produce or gain access to a printer to make labels and stickers with a design are both costly and require transportation. Once options are evaluated for the most affordable and sustainable, a farmer organization or cooperative could split the costs of portable labelling machines, thus saving individual resources while building community relationships.
Labelling/packaging could be seen as an opportunity for women to form a cooperative, where they share the costs between themselves with a goal of agency and as a form of income. Women make up approximately 43% of the agricultural labour force and perform laborious tasks such as weeding which are typically unpaid as they are performed on their own family farms (Minten and Tamru, 2016). The more involved women are in the packaging, distribution and sales of their processed products, the more revenue they can gain to compensate for the many unpaid tasks. In return, this income could be used towards female education to increase literacy rates, lower birth rates, and remove other barriers to empowerment.
Critical Analysis
Although packaging and labels would add economic value, it would also produce more local pollution. The materials needed for packaging should try to be recycled, durable and accurately represented.
Ideally, package labelling should meet a level of care similar to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) used in North America which is a set of standards that ensures transparency between the consumer and farmer (Born, 2006). However, to follow a standard set of rules, one must be able to read and understand its contents, requiring everyone to be literate, which may be challenging. Conversely, however, the net socioeconomic benefit of strategic marketing strategies may facilitate higher education, if money is reinvested back into the local community. The clarity of the colourful labels should avoid customer confusion in terms of what they are purchasing, and it should benefit the smallholders (especially women) and ideally any taxation should be returned back to build local infrastructure.
Some barriers towards market participation for female smallholders could be the location and the high costs of transportation, limiting access both to and from markets. Another barrier may be lack of financing available, trade barriers, cultural barriers, consumer trends, and government corruption. Finally, at the village level, participation in markets may be hampered by poor quality and high costs of inputs, high transportation costs, high market charges and unreliable market information (McCullogh, 2007).
References
1. Born, H. 2006). Adding Value to Farm Products: An Overview. Sustainable Agriculture. ATTRA, USA. https://attra.ncat.org/
2. Brugger, C. Staudacher, P. Winkler, M.S. et al. (2021). What agro-input dealers know, sell and say to smallholder farmers about pesticides: a mystery shopping and KAP analysis in Uganda. Environ Health 20, 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-021-00775-2
3. Canard, A. Chiffoleau, Y. Millet-Amrani, S. (2016). From Short Food Supply Chains to Sustainability Agriculture in Urban Food Systems: Food Democracy as a Vector of Transition. Agriculture 6(4), 57. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/6/4/57
4. Crop Value Addition and Marketing. (2022). ToT Training Module Presentation. Agric Technical Working Group Partners Food Security Cluster South Sudan. https://fscluster.org/sites/default/files/documents/session_3._crop_value_addition_and_marketing_7072022.pdf
5. Committee on World Food Security (n.d.). Connecting Smallholders to Markets. Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/cfs/CFS43/MS207_Food_Sec_General_Smallholders_en.pdf
6. Flipps, K. (2023). The psychology behind colors and symbols in safety messaging. Industrial Safety & Hygiene News. https://www.ishn.com/articles/113745-the-psychology-behind-colors-and-symbols-in-safety-messaging#:~:text=Utilize%20red%20and%20orange%20for,for%20safety%20and%20positive%20reinforcement.
7. McCullogh, E. Nyanamba, T.Omiti, J. Otieno, D. (2007). “Strategies to Promote Market-Oriented Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries: A Case of Kenya”. AAAE Conference Proceedings. Pages 259-264. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/50049/Omiti.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
8. USAID (2023a) Financing Agricultural Small- and- Medium Enterprises in Africa. United States Agency for International Development (USAID). https://www.usaid.gov/fasa-fund#:~:text=At%20the%202023%20U.N.,initial%20commitment%20of%20%2435%20million.
9. USAID (2023b) Bridging the Gap: Financing Africa’s Agricultural Growth. (United States Agency for International Development. https://www.usaid.gov/fact-sheet/fasa-fund
10. RRRP (2002) “Marketing Strategies For Small-Scale Farmers”. Rural Radio Resource Pack (RRRP). Pages 5-28. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). https://cgspace.cgiar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8a1f83ad-6186-4ca4-b03c-b5e88732aa42/content
11. Tamru, S. and Minten. B. (2023) Value addition and farmers: Evidence from coffee in Ethiopia. PLoS ONE 18(1): e0273121. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pon