"Contract farming is conventionally thought of as a form of industrial organization that helps to overcome high monitoring, supervision, and environmental mitigation costs incurred from ensuring a reliable and uniform-quality supply (from the standpoint of integrators) and high capital and small-scale input and service purchase costs (from the standpoint of individual farmers). But contract farming is also a private sector vertical coordination response to the changing demand for certifying the use of quality inputs to produce quality outputs and of safe production procedures.

This paper tries to show the advantages - both in productivity and consumer appeal - of domestic and global companies connecting with smallholder suppliers. It draws on programme experience and case studiesin the food and drinks sector where companies aimed to deliver value for their business in ways that would also benefit smallholder suppliers.

Contract farming is seen by proponents as a way to raise small-farm income by delivering technology and market information to small farmers, incorporating them into remunerative new markets. Critics, however, see it as a strategy for agribusiness firms to pass production risk to farmers, taking advantage of an unequal bargaining relationship. There is also concern that contract farming will worsen rural income inequality by favoring larger farmers.

Contract farming may be defined as agricultural production carried out according to a prior agreement in which the farmer commits to producing a given product in a given manner and the buyer commits to purchasing it. Often, the buyer provides the farmer with technical assistance, seeds, fertilizer, and other inputs on credit and offers a guaranteed price for the output. Proponents of contract farming argue that it links small-scale farmers to lucrative markets and solves a number of problems small-scale farmers face in diversifying into high-value commodities.

MAE SOT, Thailand - "The conflict-ridden Thai-Myanmar border has long been associated with drug smuggling, arms-dealing and human trafficking and other illicit trades. Now a new investment initiative aims to bring bilateral border trade above ground through the establishment of export-oriented special economic zones (SEZs) in the two countries' hinterlands.

The two sides agreed last month in Mandalay to finalize a long pending agreement, which in the first phases will open the way for

The purpose of this study is twofold. On one hand, the objective is to assess the impact of new and more complex contracting schemes, as opposed to traditional marketing channels, on small farmers’ welfare. On the other hand, the study explores which may be the critical factors that determine the small farmers’ participation in these institutional arrangements. In this context, two critical factors are stressed. The first one has to do with access to credit and the second one is the size of the agricultural plot.

This paper is an empirical analysis of the gains from contract farming in the case of poultry production in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The paper finds that contract production is more efficient than noncontract production. The efficiency surplus is largely appropriated by the processor. Despite this, contract growers still gain appreciably from contracting in terms of lower risk and higher expected returns. Improved technology and production practices as well as the way in which the processor selects growers are what make these outcomes possible.

This report is a follow up of a study that was carried out in the year 2001/2 commissioned by the FAO and SARPN. The main objective of the initial study was an assessment of the negative impacts of HIV/AIDS on livelihoods of the affected and infected communities through lowering their agricultural productivity.

This draft paper outlines a strategy for World Bank involvement in land policies. It focuses on property rights to land, land transactions, and socially optimal use of land.

This paper addresses the amelioration of the impact of AIDS on land tenure and livelihoods. The author argues that, in Lesotho, land policy development should be informed by the status of community support and welfare for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. He offers three main policy recommendations as follows: Land administrators should be fully informed about the epidemic and various legislations that govern the rights of the affected households. This will help to ensure uniform implementation of measures to support affected households.