A guide to MARKETING COSTSand how to calculate them

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The Guide explains in a simple way the concept ofmarketing costs. It provides brief advice on how tocalculate such costs. Marketing margins are alsodiscussed. In part, the aim of the Guide is tocorrect some of the widely held misunderstandingsover marketing costs. Tradersʼ margins are oftenlooked upon as being excessive. Frequently, this isbecause the observer lacks a full appreciation of allthe costs involved. The Guide should also bepart icularly useful to marketing officers andextension workers who are called upon to advisefarmers on marketing and prices

TC/D/U8770E/3/10.07/1500

For further copies of this publicationand for information on FAOʼs activities

related to agricultural marketingplease write to:

Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance ServiceRural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsViale delle Terme di Caracalla

00153 Rome, Italy

AGS-Registry@fao.org

http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

The following is a list of booklets published in theMARKETING EXTENSION GUIDE series:

A guide to MARKETING COSTS MARKET RESEARCHand how to calculate them for agroprocessors1993, 59 pp. (E F S) 2003, 114 pp. (E S)

A guide to MAIZE MARKETING Planning and designingfor extension officers RURAL MARKETS1999, 111 pp. (E F) 2003, 120 pp. (E S)

Understanding and using HORTICULTURAL MARKETINGMARKET INFORMATION 2005, 131 pp. (E S)2000, 85 pp. (E F S)

Available in: E – EnglishF – FrenchS – Spanish

Series editor: Andrew W. Shepherd http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

A guide to MARKETING COSTSand how to calculate them

Prepared byAndrew W. Shepherd

Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance ServiceRural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSRome 2007

First printed 1993Reprinted 1996

Revised and Reprinted 2007

The designations employed and the presentation of materialin this information product do not imply the expression of anyopinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations concerning the legal ordevelopment status of any country, territory, city or area or ofits authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries.

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this in-formation product for educational or other non-commercial purposes areauthorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holdersprovided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in thisinformation product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibitedwithout written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for suchpermission should be addressed to the Chief, Electronic Publishing Policyand Support Branch, Communication Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme diCaracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to copyright@fao.org

© FAO 1993/2007

iii

Foreword

The intention of this Guide is to explain basic conceptsof agricultural marketing costs and marketing margins.It identifies the main types of marketing costs, providesbrief advice on how to calculate them and discussesthe interpretation of marketing margins.

An understanding of costs and margins is essentialfor all those involved with agricultural marketing. Far-mers seeking to produce new crops need to be awarenot only of their likely production costs but also of thecosts of marketing these crops. Extension workersneed to be able to advise farmers and farmersʼ groupson such matters. Wholesale and retail traders must, ofcourse, be fully aware of their costs if they are to tradeprofitably. Finally, government officials concerned withmonitoring the efficiency of agricultural markets needto have a full understanding of marketing costs andmargins and need to be able to monitor these on aregular basis if they are to propose viable improve-ments, such as new markets.

In part, the aim of this Guide is to correct some of thewidely held misunderstandings over marketing costs.

iv

Tradersʼ margins are often looked upon as being ex-cessive; frequently this is because the observer lacksa full appreciation of all the costs involved.

This Guide should be particularly useful to marketingofficers and extension workers who are called uponduring their work to advise farmers on marketing andprices. It is hoped that it will be used by agriculturaltraining colleges for their courses in agricultural mar-keting. The Guide can be used together with other gui-des in the FAO Marketing Extension Guide series.

v

Contents

ForewordIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 What are marketing costsand why do they vary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Produce preparationand packaging costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3 Handling costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Transport costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Product losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Storage costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Processing costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438 Capital costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 A marketing cost calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

10 Marketing margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

vi

Figures

1 Calculating packaging costs . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Calculating transport costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Calculating the cost of

product losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Calculating weighted average

selling price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Calculating storage costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396 Calculating storage costs

over time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 Calculating processing costs . . . . . . . . . . . 458 A cost calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 Calculating marketing margins . . . . . . . . . . 56

Introduction

The prices paid by consumershave to cover all the coststhat occur along the marketing chain

Marketing chainsvary in length

and complexity –three simple examples

are shown here

2

Farmertakes produce

to local rural market

Farmer unloads produceand sells it in small quantities

to consumers

Farmertakes produce

to wholesale market

Farmertakes produce

to assembly market

Buyerpurchases produceat assembly market

Buyer takes produceto wholesale market

and sells to wholesaler

Sub-wholesalerdistributes produce

to retail shops

Retailer sellsproduce toconsumer

RETAIL SHOPWHOLESALE MARKETASSEMBLY MARKETFARM

RETAIL MARKETWHOLESALE MARKETFARM

LOCAL RURAL MARKETFARM

Produce is unloaded,weighed and delivered

to wholesaler

Retailer purchases producefrom wholesaler

and takes it to his/her shop

Retailer sellsproduce toconsumer

3

2

1

The marketing of agricultural crops involvesthe transfer of produce from farmer to consumer

3

The sequence of stages involved in transferring pro-duce from the farm to the consumer is generallyreferred to as a marketing chain. Examples of market-ing chains are shown on the opposite page.

The consumer could be as close to the producer asthe same village or could be a consumer of cash cropsliving on the other side of the world. All transfers involvemarketing activities in some form or other. All activitiesinvolve costs. At the simplest level the cost involvedmay just be the time taken by a farmer to walk to anearby market and stay there until all his or her veget -ables are sold. At the most complex level a product maybe stored for lengthy periods, transported long distan -ces and processed several times before reaching theform in which it is finally sold.

Why is the price of a product in a shop or retail marketoften so much higher than the price paid to the farmer?The costs involved with marketing are not always fullyunderstood. We can understand that traders or proces-sors spend money on transport or packaging or on fuelfor a rice or maize mill but there are many other, lessobvious, costs. Because these costs are not alwaysvisible, those doing the marketing are often accused of

making unreasonable profits. People look at pricespaid to farmers by traders and compare them with theprices consumers pay for the same product and as-sume that the farmers and consumers are being ex-ploited. Sometimes, of course, traders do make veryhigh profits but on other occasions they make smallprofits or even losses. Clearly, unless they make a rea-sonable profit traders will not want to take the risk ofcontinuing in business, to the disadvantage of bothconsumers and farmers.

Generally, the more complex and lengthy the market-ing chain the higher are the marketing costs. Thussimple comparison of farmer prices with retail prices isa poor indicator of marketing efficiency as it does nottake into account the costs involved in moving producealong the marketing chain from farmer to consumer. Iffarmers live 20 km from a market they will normallyreceive a higher share of the final price than those wholive 200 km away, because of lower transport costs. Aproducer of a perishable crop, such as tomatoes, islikely to receive a lower share of the final price than theproducer of a non-perishable crop, such as coconuts,because some of his or her crop may be unsaleable bythe time it reaches the market. A farmer who grows ap-ples may receive a lower share of the retail price thanone who produces pineapples, because apples can bestored for several months to take advantage of higher

4

Produce being soldby the roadside ...

... roadside selling and buyingis often the beginningof the marketing chain

prices later in the year, while pineapples cannot, butstorage costs money. Similarly, an onion farmer mayget less of the final retail price than a cauliflower farmerbecause onions can be stored for several months.Thus, in comparing farmer and consumer prices, weneed to be fully aware of all the costs involved. Onlythen can we see if excessive profits are being made, ifthe marketing system is inefficient or if the high costsare justified.

This Guide briefly explains the concept of marketingcosts and their calculation. Marketing margins are alsodiscussed. The Guide will be particularly useful tomarketing officers and extension workers who arecalled upon to advise farmers on marketing during thecourse of their work. Sometimes, for example, it maybe in the interests of farmers to work together as agroup to jointly market their produce. However, beforethis is done, someone, such as the extension officer,needs to be able to calculate the costs involved so thatfarmers can be sure they would be better off using adifferent marketing procedure.

Marketing practices vary so much around the worldand according to the type of produce that this Guidecan only identify possible costs and indicate ways ofcalculating them. In one country farmers may them-selves take their produce to the wholesale market; in

5

Before the produceis laid out for the consumer ...

... a great many thingsmay have happeneden route

another, produce may be handled by two or threetraders before it reaches the market. Differences inmarketing methods even occur within countries. It istherefore impossible to provide a simple methodologyfor evaluating costs. For the same reason, it is clearthat there is no such thing as a “reasonable” marketingcost for a crop, which extension workers could use tocompare with costs in their area. The costs of market-ing any one product depend on the circumstances inthe country and in the area concerned.

Senior government officials who wish to go into moredepth about cost calculation methods may like to referto Costs, Margins and Returns in Agricultural Market-ing, a publication which is available from FAO.*

The first chapter of this Guide briefly summarises themain costs associated with agricultural marketing andexplains why they can vary so much. Subsequentchapters consider each individual type of cost (forexample, packaging, handling, transport) in more de-tail. The Guide then discusses how to put together allof the individual costs in order to determine the totalmarketing costs involved in moving produce from thefarmer to the consumer. A final chapter looks at mar-keting margins, how they are calculated and how tointerpret them.

* E-mail: AGS-Registry@FAO.org

1 What are marketing costs and why do they vary?

Getting produce to the consumerinvolves numerous costs

8

Produce preparation and packaging costsWe assume that harvesting of produce and the move-ment of that produce to the farm gate or packing shedis part of the production cost. Thus the first marketingcost incurred is produce preparation. This includescleaning, sorting and grading. The second cost thatis usually faced by farmers and/or traders is packaging.Types of packaging used may range from a simplejute bag, which may account for less than one percentof the marketing cost, to sophisticated plastic packag-ing for direct shipment of fruits to consumers in super-markets, which would account for much more.

Handling costsAt all stages in the marketing chain produce will haveto be packed and unpacked, loaded and unloaded,put into store and taken out again. Each individualhandling cost will not amount to much but the sumtotal of all such handling costs can be significant.

Transport costsOnce packed, produce is then transported. In manycountries the initial transportation may be done by thefarmers or their labourers, carrying the produce them-selves or using animal-drawn carts. Alternatively,

traders may send agents around to farmers to collectproduce for assembly in one central area. As notedin the Introduction, costs will vary according to thedistance between the farmer and market. But they willalso depend on the quality of the roads. A farmer livingclose to a main highway will probably face much lowertransport costs than one living at the end of a roughroad, which causes much damage to trucks and isoften impassable. Transport costs will be lower in coun-tries where trucks and fuel are cheap than in countrieswhere import duties are high. Truck owners have tobuy their trucks; costs will be lower where bank interestcharges are low than where they are high.

Sometimes transport costs are a simple matter tocalculate because the farmer or trader pays a set priceper kilogram to the transporter. But what do we do whenproduce is carried on a “per container” basis or whenfarmers or traders hire a complete truck and transporta variety of crops? How do we calculate tradersʼ trans-port costs if they own their own vehicle?

Product lossesLosses are common with agricultural produce market-ing. Even if nothing is actually thrown away productsmay lose weight in storage and transit. Thus onekilogram of a product sold at retail level cannot becompared with one kilogram sold by the farmer. Some-

9

Using local materials for packing can be cost-efficient

Produce is handled many times before it reaches the consumer Product losses can be a considerable cost

Transport costs often make up the bulk of marketing costs

10

times very high losses can be recorded, particularlyfor a perishable fruits and vegetables. Losses will prob-ably be highest in the main season when “gluts” ofproduce mean that much has to be thrown away un-sold. In general, the longer the distance betweenfarmer and consumer the higher the likely loss.

The treatment of losses in marketing cost calculationscan be fairly complex. In particular, produce which isbought but not sold can still incur costs such as pack-aging, transport and storage. If there are no quantitylosses there can still be quality losses and this isreflected in the price at which produce is sold.

Storage costsStorage is an important cost for many products. Themain purpose of storage is to extend the availabilityof produce over a longer period than if it were soldimmediately after harvest. The assumption behind allcommercial storage is that the price will rise sufficientlywhile the product is in store to cover the costs ofstorage. Such costs will vary, depending on the costsof building and operating the store but also on thecost of capital used to purchase the produce whichis stored. If a store is used to its maximum capacitythroughout the year costs will obviously be much lessthan if it is only used for a few months and is, eventhen, kept half empty.

Processing costsProcessing is often an important marketing cost.Grains such as rice and maize have to be milled. Inworking out total marketing costs we need to considerthe conversion factor from unmilled to milled grain, aswell as the value of any by-products. The price paidto the farmer for one kilogram of paddy cannot bedirectly compared with the price paid by the consumerfor one kilogram of milled rice because they are notthe same product. It is surprising how often somethingas simple as this is overlooked. Similarly, a coffeefarmer can't compare directly the export price for akilogram of green beans with the price he or she re-ceives for cherries or even parchment coffee.

Processing costs can vary according to the efficiencyof the organization doing the processing, the process-ing facility's throughput and the frequency of its oper-ation. It will also vary according to the organization'scosts which can depend on factors such as fuel costs,depreciation costs, import duties, taxes and wages.

Capital costsCapital costs may not be very visible but are extremelyimportant. To operate, traders may have to borrowmoney from the bank. The interest they pay on thatmoney is a cost. If traders use their own money we can-not then say that they have no costs since they could

11

Storage extends product availability beyond the harvest– it can be expensive

Much processing takes place in villages

have left the money in the bank to earn interest insteadof using it for trading. The cost of using their own fundsis thus the interest they are not receiving. Economistscall this an opportunity cost.

There are other opportunity costs. For example,traders could perhaps be using their time to do otherwork. For them to want to be involved with marketingthe profit they make from marketing must be more thantheir alternative income opportunities. Often it must besignificantly more, particularly when they run the risk oflosing money.

Other costsThe costs considered above are the major costs thatare faced in marketing agricultural produce. But thereare many others and people involved with measuringcosts need to keep all of them in mind. While theymay be low in one country they may make up a sizeableproportion of costs in another. People using marketshave to pay market fees. Often they will have to payto have their produce weighed. Traders normally haveto be licensed and pay license fees. In some marketswholesalers charge commission. Taxes have to bepaid and, sometimes, bribes are needed, whether atroad blocks when transporting produce or to get per-mission to operate a business. All these costs have tobe built into the calculations.

12

and processing for carrying out these functions. Thepercentage share of the final price which is taken upby the marketing function is known as the marketingmargin.

Sometimes the marketing margin can be quite a highpercentage and this may be used to argue that farmersor consumers are being exploited. However, high mar-gins can often be fully justified by the costs involved.Without an understanding of those costs and how theyare made up it is impossible to know whether marginsare reasonable or not.

The final stage of marketing – selling to the consumer

An additional cost is that of obtaining informationabout market prices, market conditions and buyers.When farmers are deciding whether to grow new cropsor to rear animals they will have to investigate how tosell those products. This may require costly visits tomarket towns in order to meet with potential buyers. Itis useful for farmers to be able to monitor marketprices. Where there are government market informa-tion services this can be done by radio; for poorerfarmers both radios and their batteries can representa significant cost. Richer farmers and traders increas-ingly use mobile phones to obtain market information;these also involve costs.

Prices and marginsFinally, costs have to be related to prices received. Ina retail market in the morning tomatoes may be sellingat a high price which appears to give the trader anexcellent profit. By the evening, however, the tradermay be selling them at a far lower price, knowing thatthe next day a supply of fresh tomatoes will be arriv-ing. This must be kept in mind when comparing theselling price with the amount paid to the farmer. Theprice paid by the eventual consumer is thus made upof the amount of money paid to the farmer for his pro-duce plus all of the costs involved in getting it to theconsumer in the form in which he or she purchasesit and a reasonable return to those doing the marketing

2 Produce preparation and packaging costs

Grading to separate produceinto similar sizes

14

Packaging servesthree basic purposes ...

... handling and transport convenience ...

Produce preparation costsPreparation of produce for the market can often betime consuming. However, money spent at an earlystage on preparation and packaging should be morethan repaid by higher prices and lower losses. Highercosts can be expected to result in higher returns.Preparation activities, sometimes undertaken by far -mers but more frequently by traders, include:

• cleaning, such as removing soil and foreignmatter;

• trimming, to remove unwanted leaves, stemsor roots;

• sorting, to remove rejects and non-marketableproduce (see Chapter 5);

• curing, for example as with onions, garlic orpotatoes;

• grading, to separate produce into similar sizesand qualities before packaging, thus increasingthe market value of the produce;

• waxing and wrapping, for example as with or-anges in some countries, to preserve the pro-duce and make it more attractive to the con - sumer.

Packaging costsMost produce needs packaging. Exceptions are gener-ally larger fruits and vegetables such as pumpkinsand water melons which may be transported in bulk.Leafy vegetables, such as cabbages, are also oftentransported in bulk. Here the outer leaves themselvesact as a form of packaging by protecting the innerleaves. There is no packaging cost but it should be

15

... product protection ...... marketing attractiveness

remembered that the outer leaves are often thrownaway before sale and thus there is a cost in terms ofproduct loss.

Packaging serves three basic purposes. Firstly, itprovides a convenient way of handling and transportingproduce. Costs would certainly be much higher ifeverything had to be carried and moved without anyform of packaging. Secondly, it provides protection forthe produce from damage during transit and handling.

The efforts which are continually being made to im-prove bulk packaging are designed mainly to improvethe protection offered rather than to increase the con-venience of the packaging from a hand ling point ofview. Finally, packaging can be used to divide the pro-duce into convenient units for retail sale and to makethe produce more attractive to the consumer, thus in-creasing the price at which it can be sold. The moresophisticated the packaging, the greater the cost.

16

Quite often, the farmer will provide the packaging,such as jute or gunny sacks for maize and paddy, whichis used right through the marketing chain. More com-plex and expensive packaging, such as plastic crates,will, on the other hand, normally be the trader's respon-sibility.

A fruit or vegetable may be packed and repackedseveral times on its way between producer and con-sumer, depending on the length of the marketing chain.The farmer may use one type of packaging (forexample a sack) to take produce to market. At themarket a trader may transfer the produce to a woodenbox or plastic crate for transport to the wholesalemarket. Retailers buying at the wholesale market maythen transfer the produce to their own packaging andthen repack it (for example in plastic bags) for conveni -ent sale. All of these various types of packaging in-volve costs, and need to be taken into account whenworking out total marketing costs.

The simplest packaging cost to calculate is when thebag, box, crate or basket is used only once. All youthen need to know is how much produce the packagecontains in order to work out the packaging cost perkilogram. Often, however, things are not that sim-ple.

With the use of more sophisticated bulk packaging,every effort is made to use the packages over and overagain. In these circumstances you need to make anestimate of how many times the container is used toarrive at a cost per journey. Allowance must also bemade for repairs and for the cost of transporting theempty package back to the beginning of the marketingchain. If a trader owns a vehicle and all his or herbusiness is in one direction (that is from farms to town)then the cost of returning the containers is negligible.If, however, transport costs for the empty containershave to be paid this can increase packaging costs sign -i ficantly. An example of this calculation is shown inFigure 1.

The type of packaging used in a particular country andfor a particular marketing chain will depend on the costsand benefits of using it. Thus, plastic crates are likelyto be used more for produce marketing in a countrywhere they are manufactured than in a country wherea 100 percent import duty is charged on such crates.Sophisticated packaging will be used more when itsignificantly reduce losses; non-perishable producewill not require expensive packaging because thebenefits of using it will be marginal. The possibility ofusing improved packaging made with local materialsshould always be studied carefully.

17

Figure 1Calculating packaging costs

Assume that oranges are packed 20 kg at a time in wooden boxeswhich, with occasional repairs, can be used for 10 trips. A box costs$ 10, repairs and cleaning during its life costs $2 and each time thebox is transported back empty to the producing area costs $1.

Then the packaging cost per trip is ...

[(original cost + repairs) ÷ number of trips] + transport when emptyor

($10 + $2) ÷ 10 trips + $1 = $2.20 per 20 kgand

$2.20 ÷ 20 kg = $ 0.11 per kg

3 Handling costs

Produce has to be handled frequentlyalong the marketing chain –when being weighed for example

20

It is very easy to overlook handling costs. Each indi -vidual time a product is handled the cost per kilogramwill be negligible. But a product can be handled manytimes before it reaches the consumer. The total of allthese small handling costs can end up being quiteconsiderable, particularly in countries with relativelyhigh labour costs.

In some cases it is possible to get an accurate idea ofhandling costs. For example, porters at wholesale mar -kets usually charge a fixed rate per box or per cart. Inother cases, however, there will not be a fixed charge.Costs per container will then need to be worked outapproximately by dividing the wage of the employee bythe number of packages handled. Where casual em-ployees are recruited on an hourly basis (for exampleat a market) this might be fairly easy. Where the personis a full-time employee of the trader the calculation ismore difficult. The employee may spend many hourssitting on a truck travelling between the farmer and the

market. He will be doing nothing during this time butthe trader will still have to pay him if he want hisassistance to load and unload.

Referring to a Farmer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumermarketing chain we could have the following indi-vidual handlings:

• farmer or labourer loads produce on to ox-cart;• labourer unloads produce at assembly market

and it is weighed;• wholesaler or employee repackages the produce

in wholesaler's containers;• produce is carried to and loaded on wholesaler's

truck;• produce is unloaded at wholesale market and

taken to premises occupied by wholesaler andweighed;

• produce is unpacked and sorted or graded;• produce is repacked in retailer's containers;• produce is carried to retailer's transport;• produce is unloaded at retailer's store;• produce is repackaged into plastic bags.

21

Farmer loads produce on to an ox-cart

Farmersʼ produce is packed in wholesalerʼs containers Stored produce is prepared for transport

Produce is repacked in wholesale market

Some examples of individual handlings

23

4 Transport costs

Trucks unloadingat a wholesale market

24

Transport costs are incurred by farmers when theytake their produce to the market and by traders asthey move the produce down the marketing chain tothe consumer. Sometimes transport costs are veryobvious because they involve the direct payment bya farmer or trader to a truck owner or, in some cases,boat owner on a per piece basis. In other cases suchcosts are less direct, for example when traders orfarmers own and operate their own vehicle.

In other situations there is no financial outlay but thereis still an opportunity cost. For example, when a farmeruses animal transport, a bicycle or even carries theproduce to get to an assembly market he or she couldbe doing other things. This is a relevant marketing costif the farmers have the possibility of selling produce atthe farm gate but feel their income will be higher if theytake it to the market. However, if the farmer has no al-ternative to going to the market then the time spentcan be more properly regarded as part of the costs ofproduction. If farmers don't go to the market they willnot be able to sell their produce.

Payment to truck drivers to carry produce to marketon a "per piece" basis makes for easy marketing cost

calculations but is usually a more expensive way oftransporting produce. Truckers have no idea whetherthey will fill their trucks or not and so calculate theircharges "per-piece" by assuming an average load overthe season or year that is less than the capacity of thevehicle. Thus traders or farmers working in groupscan, if they are sure they can fill a vehicle, save ontransport costs by joining together to hire one. Gener-ally, the larger the truck they can hire and fill, thecheaper the per unit transport costs. Extension officersinvolved with marketing can play an important role byhelping farmers or traders to organise to do this.

When produce is carried on a "per-piece" basis it isa simple matter to divide the cost per container by thenumber of kilograms in the container. When a truck ishired or traders use their own, the calculation is moredifficult because the vehicle may be used for severaldifferent commodities, each packed in a different-sized container. For most trucks the factor limitingquantities carried is space available, not weight. Thusproducts which have a low weight-for-volume ratio (forexample green peppers) should be costed at a higherper kilogram cost than produce which is heavier inrelation to its volume. This requires making a roughestimate of the volume of the containers used for eachcommodity. The space available in the truck (minus anallowance for space that cannot be filled because of

25

Bicycle

Pack animal Truck – train Plane

Animal cart Boat

In the marketing chain you can find virtually every kind of transport being used

26

the shape of the containers, etc.) can then be dividedby the volume of the container, so allowing the costper kilogram to be worked out. An example of this calcula -tion is shown in Figure 2.

The calculation becomes more complicated whentraders own their own vehicles and we have to as-sess their transport costs. There are so many factorsto consider in working out the costs per kilogram for onejourney that this is best avoided unless there is no al-ternative information available to allow the cost to beestimated. If, for example, some traders use their owntransport while others hire trucks on a "per jour ney" or"per-piece" basis then you can use the costs of the lat-ter as a "best guess" of the costs to truck-owningtraders.1

Because traders and truck owners are often accusedof overcharging it is important to be aware of thetransport costs they face. These include:

• wages paid to the driver and, where relevant,his assistant;

• cost of fuel, maintenance, repairs and the like;• cost of licences, road tax, insurance and other

necessary payments;

• cost incurred en route such as tolls or bribespaid at official or unofficial road blocks andcharges for entering a market;

• the capital cost of the vehicle. When workingout the yearly cost of operation of a truck youneed to include not only the cost of bank interestpaid on a loan but also the annual depreciation(or loss of value) of the truck. When roads arebad trucks may last only a few years and thusdepreciation will be a major cost.

Having identified annual transport costs it is thennecessary to consider the amount of work the truck willdo in one year in order to work out a cost per tonneper km. This will depend on:

• the periods in which produce is available to bemarketed;

• the other uses (if any) to which the truck can beput on return journeys or when not beingused for agricultural marketing;

• the days the truck is unavailable due to break-downs, repairs, services and the like;

• when both produce and the truck are available,the number of journeys and kilometres thetruck will be able to do.

27

Figure 2Calculating transport costs

Assume that there are 40 m3 available in the truck to beused and that it costs $500 to hire the truck. A container of 0.2 m3

holds 8 kg of tomatoes and a container of 0.4 m3 holds 10 kg ofgreen peppers. A full truck could hold 200 containers of tomatoes (40m3 ÷ 0.2 m3) and 100 containers of green peppers (40 m3 ÷ 0.4 m3).

Then the transport cost for tomatoesper container and per kilogram is ...

$500 ÷ (40 m3 ÷ 0.2 m3) = $2.50 per containerand

$2.50 ÷ 8 kg = $0.3125 per kilogram

While the transport cost for green peppersper container and per kilogram is ...

$500 ÷ (40 m3 ÷ 0.4 m3) = $5.00 per containerand

$5.00 ÷ 10 kg = $0.50 per kilogram

28

This is the simplestform of transport

– it also costs money

As can be seen, there are numerous individual costswhich can combine to make produce transport ex -tremely expensive. In many cases transport will be themost important marketing cost. It is therefore vital thatthe cost is calculated correctly. Expensive mistakescan be made if, for example, a village cooperativedecides to buy a truck to compete with traders. If itunderestimates the costs of operating the truck orover-estimates the amount of produce it will handle itcould end up with a large loss.

29

5 Product losses

Produce losses can be causedby many factors, such aspoor packaging and transport

30

Produce which has beenbadly packed and handled

loses its value at the market

If a trader buys one kilogram of produce from a farmer,how much of that one kilogram will he or she actuallyend up selling? And what will be the average price ofwhat he or she sells? Post-harvest losses of produce,particularly fresh produce, can be quite considerable,both in terms of quantity and quality (which will affectthe selling price).

The causes of losses are many and varied and willnot be considered in detail here.2 One of the biggestcauses is often the fact that the farmer produces morethan the traders want to buy or the traders buy morethan they can sell to the consumers. When there is asurplus, physical losses will be high and/or farmers andtraders will have to sell at a loss.

Poor harvesting techniques and bad handling on thefarm (bruising, exposure to the sun) can mean thatmuch damage has been done even before the produceis sold to the trader.

Poor handling by the trader and his employees canmake the situation worse. When truckers are paid ona "per piece" basis, farmers and traders try to squeezeas much as possible into the package. This can be a

31

Produce which has beenwell packed and handledobtains higher prices at the market

false economy as the loss resulting from the damagecaused can exceed the savings in transport costs.Produce can be damaged in transit, by the constantshaking on bumpy roads, by exposure to sun on top ofa bus, and by high temperatures inside a truck orother vehicle (if a truck breaks down and has to sit atthe side of the road for two or three days the entire con-signment could be lost). Delays and bad handling atthe wholesale market can make things worse. Some-times, for example, produce that has been well packedby the farmer or the trader is simply thrown onto a heapon the floor of the wholesaler's premises, causing fur-ther bruising and damage.

At all stages of the marketing chain some produce willbe thrown away. This may be planned, as in the caseof cabbage leaves, but in most cases it will be the re-sult of losses caused by bad handling. Sorting shouldoccur at all stages of the marketing chain to separatedamaged from good produce.

Losses in weight can occur even if produce is notthrown away. Most crops lose weight during transit andstorage as the result of moisture loss. This is notnecessarily a bad thing. For example, grain can bestored better when dry. But it does mean that a kilo-gram of produce purchased from a farmer is not equalto a kilogram sold to a consumer by the trader.

32

Figure 3Calculating the cost of product losses

Assume that, at 10 percent loss levels, 1 kg of tomatoes purchasedby the trader from the farmer results in 900 grams (0.9 kg.) availablefor sale to consumers. The trader buys tomatoes from the farmer at$5 per kilogram and marketing costs are $2 per kilogram for thetomatoes originally purchased. The selling price of tomatoes is $8 perkilogram.

Then the costs are ...

Therefore, you should try to estimate the losses. Thiswill not be easy unless you are able to follow consign-ments all the way through the marketing chain. Also,losses will vary according to the season; poor qualityfruits which are unsaleable during a glut may well besaleable when there is a shortage. Most Ministries ofAgriculture have assessments of losses and these canbe used as a starting point for estimates. However,there is often a tendency to exaggerate losses, so of-ficial figures should be treated with caution.

The best way to treat losses is one that enables you tocompare the quantity eventually sold with the quan -tity bought from the farmer. It gives the most accuratecalculation and also means that the costs involved inpacking, transporting, handling and storing producewhich is eventually lost are included. An example of thiscalculation is shown in Figure 3, together with themore usual, and wrong, method of calculation.

33

Figure 3, continued

1 kg purchased at $5 per kg = $5.001 kg packed and transported at $2 per kg = 2.00

Total Costs = $7.00Sales Revenue or $8 x 0.9 kg = 7.20Thus the margin to the trader = $0.20

Below is an example of the more usual,and wrong, method of calculation.

1kg purchased at $5 per kg = $5.001kg packed and transported at $2 per kg = 2.00

10 percent losses or $5 x 0.1 = 0.50

Total Costs = $7,50Sales Revenue or $8 x 1 kg = 8.00Thus the margin to the trader = $0.50

The second calculation is clearly wrongbecause here the trader is seen to be obtaining revenuefrom produce which has already been “lost”.

Note: We will return to the correct methology in Chapter 9 where aworked example of a marketing cost calculation is given.

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Product lossesmay occur during transport

Separating undamaged producefrom damaged produce

There are quality as well as quantity losses. Qualitylosses reveal themselves when the trader has to sellpart of a consignment at a lower price than the rest.This could be because some produce is damaged intransit, because produce deteriorates over the periodit is being sold or because the trader expects that it willdeteriorate before there is another opportunity to sellit. In many countries perishable fruits and vegetablesare sold at low prices on Saturday evenings becausemarkets are closed on Sundays. Such produce maybe unsaleable on the Monday morning because it hasto compete with fresh produce.

In estimating the price the trader receives for producethat was probably purchased from the farmer at afixed price per kilogram, you must therefore take ac-count of the fact that all of the consignment is unlikelyto be sold at one price. Not only will there be price vari-ations due to quality differences but prices will varyaccording to supply and demand in the market. Tocalculate the average price the trader receives youmust therefore calculate a weighted average price. Anexample of this calculation is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 shows a very different picture of traderrevenue than if we had used the price of the first sale,which would probably have been at $2 per kilogram.

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Figure 4Calculating weighted average selling price

Assume an example involving a consignment of 100 kg of tomatoesas follows ...

50 kg sold at $2.00 = $10020 kg sold at $1.40 = 2820 kg sold at $1.00 = 20

5 kg sold at $0.40 = 2(5 kg which cannot be sold) –

Total Revenue = $150

Then the average selling price per kilogram is ...

$150 ÷ 100 kg = $1.50

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6 Storage costs

Fumigation – a storage cost

38

Storage is carried out in order to extend the period ofavailability of a crop to a consumer. In the case ofstaple food crops long-term storage is, of course, es-sential. The harvest period may be just a few monthsbut the staple has to be consumed throughout theyear. Storage can be carried out by the farmer, thetrader, the mill or the consumer. With regard to moreperishable crops, storage can be used to extend whatis often a short period of availability. However, this isonly viable when the produce can be sold after stor-age at a price higher than the into-store price, withthe difference fully covering the costs of storage, aswell as offering an incentive to take the risk that aloss may result.

Storage costs fall into four categories:

• costs associated with the physical operation ofthe stores; that is the actual cost per kilogramwhich must be paid to place the produce in thewarehouse or cool store. Such costs are madeup of factors such as depreciation on the build-ing, security costs, electricity and other utilitycosts and maintenance;

• costs associated with the maintenance of theproduct quality while it is in store… for exam-ple, the cost of chemicals;

• costs associated with loss of quality and quan-tity while the produce is in store;

• the financial cost to the owner of the producewhile it is in store.

The biggest single factor affecting storage costs iscapacity utilisation. Where a store is used frequently tofull capacity costs per unit will be low. Where one iskept empty for much of the time costs will be high.

Where commercial storage facilities are used it isrelatively simple to work out physical storage costsincurred by traders as they will be charged on a basissuch as kilogram/days, box/weeks or tonne/months.The costs per kilogram for the period the produce is instore can then be worked out. Where the trader hiresan entire warehouse and moves produce in and outyou need to have an idea of the average number ofcontainers/kilograms in store during the period forwhich the store is hired. An example of this calculationis shown in Figure 5.

There will usually be quantity losses while produce isin store. This may be deliberate (for example, when

39

Figure 5Calculating storage costs

Assume that a warehouse is hired for 120 days of the year at a totalcost of $600 and that the weighted average contents are 250 bags ofpotatoes.

Then the storage cost is ...

$600 ÷ 120 days = $5.00 per day$5 ÷ 250 bags = $0.02 per bag/day

40

grain is dried so that it will store better) or accidental,due to bad storage. With fresh produce some quantityloss is almost inevitable, however efficiently it is stored.Physical losses in storage need to be treated as costsin the way outlined in Chapter 5. Quality losses are alsoinevitable and for the trader these are reflected in theprices he or she receives. As shown in Chapter 5, it isimportant to get an accurate estimate of the weightedaverage price stored produce is eventually sold at.It is easy to ignore the fact that produce while in store

incurs a financial cost for the trader. To do so, however,would give a totally inaccurate impression of marketingcosts. An example of a realistic calculation of storagecosts including additional costs such as bank interestis shown in Figure 6. This example assumes that thereis no loss. However, a four-month period of storage willalmost certainly lead to some losses and these needto be built into the calculations.

Long-term storage Short-term storage

41

Figure 6Calculating storage costs over time

Assume that a trader buys potatoes at $10 per bag and keeps themin store for 4 months. To do this he or she has to borrow moneyat 12 percent per year.

Then the cost of bank interest is ...

$10 x 0.04 (12% p.a. over 4 months) = $0.40 per bag

Thus a realistic calculationof storage costs per bagfor our consignment of potatoes is ...

Storage charge for 120 days at $0.02 per day = $2.40Interest charge of $0.40 per bag = 0.40

Total cost per bag = $2.80

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7 Processing costs

Many foods must be processedbefore they can be consumed

44

The transformation of a product from one form toanother clearly involves costs associated with the oper-ation of the processing facility. In calculating marketingcosts, however, we need to consider two other im-portant aspects of processing costs. Firstly, as withproduct losses, one kilogram of product purchasedfrom the farmer cannot be compared with one kilogramof processed product sold to the consumer. We there-fore need to ask, “how much will be sold to the con-sumer if one kilogram is bought from the farmer?”Secondly, there may be a by-product as a result ofthe processing and this by-product can often be sold.The value of the by-product must therefore be includedin the calculations.

The costs of the food in very sophisticated processedfood products sold in supermarkets (for example“ready-to-eat” meals) can be a very small proportion ofthe retail selling price, sometimes less than ten per-cent. Processing, packaging and other marketing costsabsorb the rest. However, in this Guide we shall con-centrate on the cost of primary processing.

Some examples of primary processing are:

• paddy into milled rice (conversion at 65-70 per-cent; by-product bran);

• maize into maize meal (conversion at 65-85percent depending on quality of meal; by-prod-uct bran);

• green tea into black tea (conversion rate 28-32percent; no by-product);

• cotton into lint (conversion rate 30-35 percent;by-product cotton seed);

• cherry coffee into green bean (conversion rateapproximately 18 percent; no by-product);

• copra into coconut oil (conversion rate 60-65percent; by-product copra cake);

• soybeans into oil (conversion rate around 18percent; by-product soya meal);

• oil palm into palm oil (conversion rate 18-24percent; by-products palm kernels and oilcake).

In calculating processing costs we need to know theconversion rate, the quantity of by-product, the valueof that by-product and the costs of processing. Anexample of this calculation is shown in Figure 7.

45

Figure 7Calculating processing costs

Assume that a rice milling operation converts paddy at the rate of 70percent (0.7) and has saleable by-products equal to 25 percent of thepaddy weight. Processing costs per kilogram of paddy have been cal-culated at $0.20 per kilogram on the basis of the millʼs total annualcosts divided by the number of kilograms of paddy processed. Thebuying price of the paddy was $1.50 per kilogram and the by-productshave a value of $0.50 per kilogram.

Then the processing cost per kilogram of paddy is ...

One kilogram of paddy purchased = $1.50Processing costs or 1 kg x $0.20 0.20

Total Costs = $1.70Less the by-product revenue of 1 kg x 0.25 x $0.50 = 0.12

Break even selling price per kilogram of paddy = $1.58

Thus the break even selling price per kilogram of milled rice is ...

$1.58 ÷ 0.7 = $2.25

46

Of course, it will not always be possible to obtainreliable information on a miller's costs. These will in-clude not only operating costs such as fuel, mainten -ance and repair but also labour costs, the cost of thecapital investment in the mill and its premises, and theopportunity cost of the owner's time. Calculating totalcosts from all these individual costs cannot be realisti -cally done by an extension worker. However, you canperhaps get information about milling costs. Ministriesof Agriculture may have model budgets for mills, ac-cording to their size, as may banks that lend moneyto mill owners. These budgets can be modified ac-cording to circumstances and throughput of the par-ticular mill.

Calculating processing costsis just as important

for small operationsas for large factories

Village processing in West Africa

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8 Capital costs

The cost of borrowing money from a bankis often overlooked

48

We have already hinted that capital costs are a majorcomponent of marketing costs. Such costs will varyfrom country to country depending on the level of inter-est rates. They include:

• The cost of money needed to buy produce andkeep it in store. Many small traders buy produce,sell it and use the proceeds to buy more, sotheir needs for operating capital are limited.Traders who buy produce and store it for lengthyperiods will, on the other hand, have sizeableoperating capital requirements. In some coun-tries traders buy from farmers in advance ofthe harvest, that is they buy the “field” or the“tree”. Thus they will have to finance the producethey buy for even longer periods and their mar-keting costs will, consequently, be higher;

• The capital cost of a warehouse or a truck if thetrader owns them;

• The capital cost of other buildings or of equip-ment, such as office space, weighing scales,grain drying equipment;

• The depreciation (or loss of value) of the vehicle,warehouse or equipment owned by the trader,miller, or others.

The calculation of capital costs for a small consign-ment of produce is far too complex an operation whenthe aim of the exercise is simply to work out marketingcosts of vegetables from a group of farmers to a nearbyurban market. As noted in other chapters it is best touse commercial rates for the hire of services, such astransport rates, storage rates or contract milling char -ges, even if traders are using their own vehicle or otherfacilities. These commercial rates will already havecapital costs built in by the trucker, warehouse owner,or others.

However, extension workers may be asked to advisea Cooperative on whether to build a store, construct amaize mill or purchase a truck. Under these circum-stances it is necessary to compare the capital anddepreciation costs with the expected annual returnfrom the Cooperative's activities after the direct opera -ting cost have been covered. Capital costs are theinterest paid to the bank on the loan. Assuming interestrates stay constant, this interest can be estimated inadvance on a yearly basis if you know how much of the“principal” (that is, the total amount borrowed) is paidback every year.

Depreciation can be calculated on a “straight line”basis. Here, the life of the vehicle or building is esti-mated and its cost, minus its “salvage” or “scrap” value

49

at the end of its working life, is divided by the numberof years of its life to get the annual depreciation. Analternative, and more accurate, approach is to assumedepreciation at a fixed percentage per year. In this waythe value goes down more rapidly in the early yearsthan later. If, for example, a $10 000 truck is depreci-ated at 10 percent then the depreciation in the first yearis $1 000 and in the second year $900 (that is 10% of$10 000 - $1 000).

Even if depreciation is taken into account, a calcula -tion could still give a misleading impression of anorganization's profitability. This is particularly the casein countries with high inflation levels. If an asset isdepreciated on the basis of its purchase price this willunderestimate the funds needed to replace the assetwhen it can no longer be used. For instance, a truckcosting $10 000 now will cost more than $60 000 toreplace after ten years if inflation is 20 percent per year.In this case the truck should be revalued at its assumedreplacement value and the revalued figure should bedepreciated as above.

Interest paymentsand depreciation on a truck

are often significant costsfaced by a trader

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9 A marketing cost calculation

After all individual costshave been identifiedit is possible to work out total costs

52

Once all the costs have been calculated it is thennecessary to put them together to work out total mar-keting costs. The calculation will vary according to thecomplexity of the marketing channel, whether there isprocessing or not, and how many intermediaries thereare. Figure 8 shows one of many possibilities.

The gross profit of the wholesaler and retailer has, ofcourse, to cover all costs which cannot be calculatedon a per kilogram basis. These occur over a year andcan only be apportioned with great difficulty to individ-ual commodities. Operating capital and licence feeswould be incurred by the wholesaler, while, amongother things, the retailer would have the expenses as-sociated with renting and running a shop. Thus the netprofit made by both would be much less.

Figure 8A cost calculation

Assume that farmers growing tomatoes wait at the side of the roadfor traders to come and buy from them. They carry the tomatoes tothe road in baskets and sell to traders at $0.50 per kilogram. Tradersrepackage the tomatoes in reusable wooden boxes containing 10 kg.The traders then take the tomatoes to a wholesale market where theyare bought by retailers at an average price of $0.90 per kg. These re-tailers supply their own boxes to transport the tomatoes to their shopor stall and sell tomatoes to consumers in plastic bags each contai-ning 500 grams. Losses are considerable. While with the traders theyamount to 10 percent so traders sell only 0.9 kg of every kilogrampurchased. The retailers lose a further 10 percent of what they purchaseso they sell 0.81 kg of every kilogram purchased by the trader fromthe farmer. The average retail selling price is $1.17 per kg.

53

Figure 8, continuedPer kg

purchasedfrom farmer

Purchase of tomatoes from farmers (1 kg x $0.50) $0.50Packaging ($0.50 ÷ 10 kg box) 0.05Labour employed by wholesaler to pack, load and unload 0.02Transport to wholesale market ($1.50 per box ÷ 10 kg) 0.15Costs en route such as road blocks 0.01Market fees 0.01Market agentʼs fees 0.02

Total costs $0.76Quantity sold (0.9 kg x weighted average selling price of$0.90 per kg) 0.81

Traderʼs gross profit $0.05Retailerʼs buying price ($0.90 x 0.9 kg) $0.81Market fees 0.01Packaging from market to shop 0.02Porterʼs fees in market 0.01Transport to shop (0.9 kg x $0.50 per 10 kg box) 0.04Weighing, cost of plastic bags, and retail packaging (for0.81 kg) 0.02

Total costs for retailer $0.91Revenue from sale of 0.81 kg (0.9 kg x 0.9) at aweighted average selling price of $1.17 per kg 0.95

Retailerʼs gross profit $0.04

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10 Marketing margins

Marketing margins must coverall the costs involvedin moving produce from farmer to consumer

56

A marketing margin is the percentage of the finalweighted average selling price taken by each stageof the marketing chain. The margin must cover thecosts involved in transferring produce from one stageto the next and provide a reasonable return to those

doing the marketing. An example of a margin calcu-lation is shown In Figure 9.

“Margins” are often used in the analysis of the effi-ciency of marketing systems. Often they are misusedeven if they are calculated correctly. The presentationof a trader's share of the final selling price in percent-age terms can give a totally misleading impression

Figure 9Calculating marketing margins

These calculations are based on figures given in the previous chapter,that is, where the buying price from the farmer is $0.50 per kg, theweighted average wholesale selling price is $0.90 per kg and the wei-ghted average retail price is $1.17 per kg (see Figure 8).

Share to the producer $0.50 ÷ $1.17 = 0.427 or 43%

Wholesale margin ($0.90 – $0.50) ÷ $1.17 = 0.342 or 34%Retail margin ($1.17 – $0.90) ÷ $1.17 = 0.230 or 23%

Total margin = 0.572 or 57%

57

Looking at margins and changes inmargins cannot tell you that there is aproblem. It can only suggest that theremay be a problem which requires furtherinvestigation by studying the marketingcosts. For example, in recent years manycountries have reduced the role of grainmarketing boards and increased privatetrader involvement in grain marketing. Acomparison of margins under the oldsystem with those under the new market -ing channels may show that marketingmargins are higher under private tra-ders. A little knowledge is a danger ousthing, so on the basis of this margincomparison, people may argue for a re-turn of the marketing board. They maythink that traders are making excessiveprofits. But, the marketing board was

probably making a loss every year. Itsmargins were low because its costs werenot fully reflected. The government mayhave had to write off the loss made bythe board, something which would notbe done for the private sector. Also,changes from government to privatemarketing have often been part of“Structural Adjustment Programmes”which have frequently led to rapid risesin interest rates. The marketing boardmay have used subsidised low interestloans, the private traders now have topay the full cost of capital. Moreover,under structural adjustment, currencieshave often been devalued heavily. Thisputs up the cost of capital items, such astrucks, and inevitably leads to highermarketing costs.

58

unless you know the costs involved. Often people whoresearch marketing costs and margins start out withthe assumption that traders exploit farmers. When theylook at the margins they may think they have found theproof. The calculation in Figure 9 could, for example,be written up as “traders keep more than half theincome from tomato sales.” Such analysis could thenbe used to try to justify government intervention inmarketing, whether it be to establish minimum pricesor to start a marketing board. Yet, as we see fromChapter 9, it is quite possible to arrive at such marginswith reasonable costs and very small net profits for thetwo traders invoved.

Because margins are expressed in percentages theyappear to be high. And because a “reasonable” mar -keting margin may have been estimated at some timethere is a tendency not to accept that such margins canand must change. For example, some governmentshave, in the past, announced that cash crop farmerswill get a certain percentage of the export price. Thispercentage may have been established when pricesfor the cash crop were high; it no longer remains use-

ful if prices fall. If the farmer gets 80 percent of the exportprice of coffee when the on-ship price is $2000 a ton thispermits a marketing margin of $400 a ton. If the worldmarket price then collapses so that the on-ship price is$1000, an insistence that farmers get 80 percent willmean that the margin will not be enough to cover costs.With the exception of operating capital costs, which willfall as the price goes down, marketing costs will staymore or less constant in money terms. Therefore, mar-keting margins will rise in percentage terms althoughstaying constant in monetary terms as the price falls.

As is explained in the box on page 57, increases inmarketing margins due to increases in marketing costsmay not mean increases in profits made by those doingthe marketing. Moreover, where farmers receive onlya comparatively small share of the selling price thisdoes not necessarily mean that they are being ex -ploited. Total margins will depend on the length of themarketing chain, the extent to which the product is sto-red or processed, and the level of post-harvest losses.To know whether margins are reasonable you need tounderstand the costs.

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Endnotes

1. For detailed suggestions on cost calculation seeCosts, Margins and Returns by Lawrence Smith, Mar-keting and Agribusiness Development Paper No. 1,FAO, Rome.

2. For more information relating to horticultural cropssee Prevention of Post-Harvest Food Losses - fruits,vegetables and root crops, FAO Training Series No.17/2, Rome, 1989.

These documents can be requested bye-mail to AGS-Registry@FAO.org

NOTES

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Artwork and layout: Consuelo Macias Duimich

For further copies of this publicationand for information on FAOʼs activities

related to agricultural marketingplease write to:

Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance ServiceRural Infrastructure and Agro-Industries Division

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsViale delle Terme di Caracalla

00153 Rome, Italy

AGS-Registry@fao.org

http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

The following is a list of booklets published in theMARKETING EXTENSION GUIDE series:

A guide to MARKETING COSTS MARKET RESEARCHand how to calculate them for agroprocessors1993, 59 pp. (E F S) 2003, 114 pp. (E S)

A guide to MAIZE MARKETING Planning and designingfor extension officers RURAL MARKETS1999, 111 pp. (E F) 2003, 120 pp. (E S)

Understanding and using HORTICULTURAL MARKETINGMARKET INFORMATION 2005, 131 pp. (E S)2000, 85 pp. (E F S)

Available in: E – EnglishF – FrenchS – Spanish

Series editor: Andrew W. Shepherd http://www.fao.org/ag/ags/subjects/en/agmarket/agmarket.html

A guide to MARKETING COSTSand how to calculate them

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The Guide explains in a simple way the concept ofmarketing costs. It provides brief advice on how tocalculate such costs. Marketing margins are alsodiscussed. In part, the aim of the Guide is tocorrect some of the widely held misunderstandingsover marketing costs. Tradersʼ margins are oftenlooked upon as being excessive. Frequently, this isbecause the observer lacks a full appreciation of allthe costs involved. The Guide should also bepart icularly useful to marketing officers andextension workers who are called upon to advisefarmers on marketing and prices

TC/D/U8770E/3/10.07/1500