Demand-Driven Approach Bears Fruit for Watermelon Farmers
One of the biggest problems facing watermelon growers in rural Azerbaijan is selling their product. Every year, farmers raise thousands of tons of watermelons. Since most farmers plant their melons at the same time, they also harvest simultaneously. This leads to a surplus on the market and drops in prices, often to the extent that farmers’ revenues don‘t cover their production expenses. But this year was different.
In 2005, The Salyan Marketing Center of the Azerbaijan Business Assistance and Development program (ABAD) identified a buyer from Baku who wanted to buy 80 tons of the Shaban variety watermelons, an early maturing variety. Shaban watermelons are typically imported to Azerbaijan from Iran; they are known for their large size, sweet red pulp and attractive light green rind. The ABAD Marketing Center communicated the buyer’s needs to a local farmer and facilitated a contractual arrangement between them.
This year, the farmer grew the Shaban variety for the first time, with assistance from the Marketing Center in procuring seeds and obtaining information on appropriate cultivation techniques. In order to produce the required 80 tons, the farmer devoted additional land to cultivation, which he had been unwilling to risk in the past. The relationship provided the farmer with secure income and enabled him to dedicate his efforts to bringing a higher-value product to market. The contract also resulted in the creation of four full-time and four seasonal jobs at the Gunesh farm and helped the farmer increase sales by nearly $9,000.
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| The ABAD Marketing Center helped connect a buyer with a local farmer willing to plant an early maturing watermelon variety |
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