The commercialisation of farming is impeded by the high costs of transporting farm inputs and outputs, from farm gate to and from the market, because of poor roads. High transport costs drive down farm gate prices of farm output and drive up input prices, which undermine the commercial viability of farming.
More public investment in the construction and proper maintenance of rural feeder roads is essential to support the modernisation of smallholder agriculture. The fourth component is improved access to finance. As I noted earlier, this may not be the binding constraint for many smallholders, especially subsistence farmers.