2.2 Transport

All marketing channels are highly influenced by the availability of roads and transport facilities. In the history of the country's development, the opening of a new road always induced an increase of marketed production. When there is no access to a road, transport is limited to headloads which is an extremely expensive type of transportation. Profits, after transportation costs have been deducted, shrink to zero after a few miles so that the existence of a road is crucial for a traditional farmer to be able to engage in marketed production. As all peasants need cash for taxes, clothing, etc., the existence of roads determine, to a considerable degree, the settlement pattern. The opening of a road causes an increase in the population density of the surrounding area.

Because of the limited number of roads, the producer does not have the possibility of choosing a market place, as there is only one in the vicinity. This, as well as the lack of price information, causes a low degree of market mobility.

Markets for agricultural inputs play a minor role for the time being. Concessions and commercial farmers have their own arrangements while the traditional farmer hardly uses any inputs from the markets. In the few cases where modern inputs are used (improved seed varieties, etc.), they are usually not purchased on the market, bur distributed by government institutions.