[IFPRI] In rural markets of developing countries, agricultural commodity prices exhibit seasonal fluctuations, with low prices at harvest, followed by steady rises to an annual high shortly before lean-season planting. Ideally, an economically rational farmer should delay sales until prices recover. Instead, it is often observed that smallholder farmers sell most of their marketable surplus right after harvest, and then end up repurchasing the same commodities for family sustenance later when prices are higher.