Which Kind of relationships among nested market and small farms: Reflections from a Sub-Saharan Africa Experience

The main aim of this paper is to discuss how the small farmers as so as the nested markets can have an important role for stimulating a place based rural development. The paper focuses on the study of MESULA Project in Tanzania. Such project represents a process of rural development that relies traditional farming techniques. It promotes a sustainable transition of local farming systems associating with the development of nested markets. It also shows that the small farmers can play a pivotal role in stimulating place-based rural development. Albeit chiefly geared toward self-consumption, small farmers remain the principal suppliers of local and regional food markets in SSA, playing a pivotal role for the food security. In this sense, nested markets can be a relevant strategy for rural development being able to create opportunities for small farmers. In the same time small farmers could be the main actors of nested markets in SSA rural areas.