The middleman — A vital cog in farming industry

THE middleman has long been cast as the villain in the agricultural supply chain – accused of squeezing farmers by buying low and selling high.

They are often vilified as shadowy figures holding at ransom farmers who depend on them to sell their produce.

While this narrative resonates emotionally, it dangerously oversimplifies reality and obscures the indispensable structural role these actors play in the farming industry.

The common perception is flawed as most middlemen are not retailers, but distributors.

Their function is not merely transactional but profoundly logistical; they are a vital cog in the distribution of produce from the farm gate to the market.

They aggregate small harvests from numerous smallholders, then sort, grade, transport and deliver perishable goods to wet markets, shops, restaurants and wholesalers.

For countless farmers, especially in rural Sarawak, this network is the only bridge to markets beyond their village.

To help farmers secure better returns, the government introduced programs like ‘Pasar Tani’, roadside stalls, and weekend markets, allowing them to bypass intermediaries.

While beneficial for small-scale producers, the direct-selling model is often inefficient.

The hours required for transport, staffing stalls and handling waste take away hours, which could have been spent on cultivation – undermining the very benefits that these initiatives seek to provide.

This extra burden also led to poorer quality of life for the farmers as they would have less time to spend with their families and rest.

Middlemen absorb these burdens, providing a ready market, immediate cash flow and reduced marketing risk – critical support for farmers who do not have access to retailers.

The price gap between farm gate and retail is often cited as proof of exploitation.
However, this ignores the real costs borne by the middleman: fuel, vehicle maintenance, spoilage, storage losses, credit risks and often, paying assistants in collecting and hauling the farm produce.

They are not profiteers; they are risk-bearing logistics operators.

Their role can be even more strategic as an Agriculture Department officer has highlighted: “Many middlemen engage in forward agreements, buying crops at a set price before planting begins.”

This ‘futures’ arrangement allows farmers to plan their finances with certainty, while the middleman shoulders the risk of price volatility.

If market prices fall, the middleman absorbs the loss; if they surge, the farmer may earn less, but both parties operate with predictable security.

This system can even enable coordinated crop rotation among farmers within a region, fostering better land management.

This context is vital as farming is not just cultivation; it is a business venture requiring planning and acumen.

As we encourage a new generation to see agriculture as an enterprise, we must recognise that enterprise requires reliable market access.

We must improve transparency, encourage fair contract farming, promote real-time price information platforms, and professionalise agricultural logistics.

Supporting farmer cooperatives can exist alongside – and actually enhance – the middleman’s role.

Demonising the middleman is easy rhetoric, but in actual fact, they play a vital role in the farmers’ livelihood.

In our fragmented agricultural landscape, they remain a necessary bridge.

The task ahead is not to burn that bridge, but to reinforce it with fairness, efficiency and resilience for the benefit of all – from the farmer in the field to the family at the table.

This context matters especially as governments urge youths to take up farming and to see agriculture as an enterprise, not merely subsistence as enterprise farming requires reliable market access.

Without trusted intermediaries or efficient alternatives such as cooperatives or digital marketplaces, new farmers may find themselves overwhelmed by the distribution challenges rather than empowered by the opportunity.

The policy conversation, therefore, should not be about eliminating middlemen, but improving transparency, efficiency and fairness within the system.

Supporting farmer cooperatives, encouraging contract-farming, promoting price information platforms and professionalising the agricultural logistics can all coexist with – and even enhance the role of the intermediaries.

Demonising middlemen may make for easy rhetoric, but it does little to address the real constraints facing small farmers.

A more balanced view recognises that in fragmented agricultural landscapes like Malaysia’s, and particularly in Sarawak, middlemen remain a necessary bridge between farm and market – and that bridge should be strengthened, not burned.