THE INFLUENCE OF MARKETING COOPERATIVES ON THE BARGAINING POSITION OF PRODUCERS IN FARM-GATE BANANA PRICES: EVIDENCES FROM SMALLHOLDERS IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

This paper empirically investigates farm-gate banana (Musa spp.) price-negotiation under asymmetric information using a bilateral bargaining model. It makes an attempt to show how memberships in cooperatives affect the bargaining power of smallholders in southern Ethiopia. A regression analysis reveals that cooperative membership positively and significantly affects the bargaining power of smallholder banana growers. The result also confirms that access to central-market-price information and past-trade relationship enables farmers to stick to their initially asked price.