They also enable farmer groups to bulk their crop into economic lot sizes that can be sold further down the marketing chain to processors, millers and other large traders, developing a greater direct involvement of smallholders. Used as collateral, warehouse receipts provide easier access to commodity finance, help reduce trade margins and seasonal price variability and enhance the involvement of the financial sector in agricultural marketing. Confidence in the reliability of the receipts is an absolute prerequisite for such schemes to succeed and the lack of confidence has led to the failure of previous attempts to introduce a warehouse receipt system in Zambia92.