ORIENTATION RELATIONNELLE DES PETITES ET MOYENNES ENTREPRISES EXPORTATRICES ET ACCES DES PRODUCTEURS AGRICOLES BENINOIS AUX MARCHES

Research on theexplanatory factors of poor market access for small producers is needed to succeed in their business relationships. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the influence of relational orientation on the participation of shea nut collectors in business partnerships with exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One is focused, in particular, on the small cultivated area due to lack of adequate equipment, limited access to credit, insufficient transport infrastructure and low productivity. However, research on relational orientation, as a strategy capable of overcoming the present obstacles remains absent from the literature, although companies use it. A questionnaire was sent to 658 collectors identified using the snowball approach one after the other in 6 communes of the departments of Borgou and Alibori. We use logit regression and Principal Componant Analysis for data analysis. Our results have shown that relational orientation,through its communication and personalization components of customer relations, has a positive effect on collectors access to profitable markets constituted by exporting SMEs. It follows that strengthening the capacity of producers in relational orientation could certainly improve the rate of integration of producers into more profitable markets constituted by SMEs.