Middlemen cause vegetable prices to soar fourfold

Middlemen Inflate Prices, Leaving Farmers Unfairly Paid and Consumers OverchargedMd.

Khalilur Rahman Sojal, Executive Director of the Voluntary Consumers Training and Awareness Society (VOCTA), told Kaler Kantho that despite consumers in cities paying high prices for farmers’ produce, farmers rarely receive a fair share. He explained that an unseen but powerful group of middlemen significantly inflates market prices.

He pointed out that vegetables priced at Tk80 to Tk100 per kilogram in Dhaka are bought from farmers at just Tk20 to Tk25 in local markets.

This large gap has been confirmed by research.

Middlemen earn profits of 50 to 65 percent on vegetables and grains, meaning farmers often cannot even cover their production and labor costs.

Meanwhile, city consumers end up paying inflated prices. The root cause of these disparities is a deeply flawed market structure characterized by a long and complex supply chain.

Khalilur Rahman Sojal further explained that products pass through multiple stages—from farmers to wholesalers and middlemen, then to retailers before reaching consumers.

At each step, farmers’ legitimate earnings are reduced, while middlemen, who buy low and sell high, maximize their profits. As a result, farmers earn less than half the value their products bring, while middlemen make two to three times more.

The lack of adequate transport and storage facilities also contributes to farmers being unable to get fair prices.

Agricultural economist Dr. Jahangir Alam Khan concurred, emphasizing that the core issue is farmers not receiving fair prices and consumers paying excessive rates.

He noted that the current system favors middlemen at the expense of both parties. Adjusting the market to favor farmers could benefit everyone, allowing farmers to earn fair returns and consumers to purchase at reasonable prices without middlemen exploiting the system.