Scientific Publication

Evaluation of the effect of road condition on the quality of agricultural produce - Phase 2 Report

Abstract

The AfCAP project on the Evaluation of the Effect of Road Condition on the Quality of Agricultural Produce is concerned with the cost-beneficial improvement of ‘First Mile’ access and the transport services associated with transferring harvest produce on the initial stages of movement from the farm to established road access. The research project will conduct fieldwork in Tanzania and Kenya to explore transport service and engineering solutions for the provision of improved access to markets for small scale farmers. The Phase 2 Report provides a comprehensive literature review covering five key themes around First Mile access and the effect of road condition on agricultural marketing. It provides feedback from two stakeholder workshops conducted in Tanzania and Kenya in July 2017, and explains the rationale for selection of two research sites in each country, providing a detailed description of each site against selection criteria. The report sets out the next steps for data collection in Phase 3 and the mixed methods approach to fieldwork comprising questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. This project is funded by DFID under the Applied Research on Rural Roads and Transport Services through Community Access Programmes in Africa and Asia (AFCAP2 and AsCAP)