Smallholder Rubber Farmers Processing and Export

About Solution

There are over 10,000 smallholder rubber farmers with an estimated 45,000 hectares of rubber plantations in Ghana. This number is expected to increase due to the Government of Ghana policy, “Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD)”, aimed at using tree crops including rubber to develop the rural economy.

All smallholder rubber farmers in Ghana sell their raw produce (latex) to off-takers at about 35% of the prevailing international market price per unit. These off-takers subsequently process the purchased raw produce and sell them in the international rubber market in Asia and Europe.

The international rubber market is open and farmers can participate, yet they are unable to do so due to their inability to process their raw produce (i.e. lack of techniques, infrastructure, tools, equipment, inputs, etc.), lack of knowledge in international marketing dynamics and linkage to the international market and the absence of other related services.

The proposed solution seek to address the challenge by assisting smallholder rubber farmers to process their own raw produce, export and sell in the international rubber market for the prevailing international market price to increase farmers income, improve their livelihoods and ultimately contribute to the alleviation of poverty in the rural rubber growing communities.

To achieve this, smallholder rubber farmers will be organized at the community level and trained on how to increase their latex production through best farm management practices and how to process their own latex to meet international market standards. This will be achieved by building the capacity of the farmers with the right techniques needed to process their latex at the community and farm level. In addition, the right infrastructure, tools, equipment, inputs and other related services shall be made available to create the enabling environment needed for the farmers to achieve the right standards and specifications of processed rubber suited for the international rubber market.

Subsequently, these farmers will be linked to traders in the international rubber market where they can sell their processed rubber at the prevailing price in the international rubber market.

This will afford these rural farmers the opportunity to trade in the international rubber market and earn a good price for their produce leading to increase in income, improvement of livelihoods and poverty alleviation for the smallholder rubber farmer and their communities.

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