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.

Contract farming (CF) is attractive as a possible private-sector-led strategy for improving smallholder farmers’ welfare. Yet many CF schemes suffer from high turnover of participating farmers and struggle to survive. So far, the dynamics of CF participation have remained largely unexplored. We employ duration analysis to examine factors affecting entry into and exit from different maize CF schemes in northern Ghana, focusing specifically on the impact of development projects on CF entry and exit.

This study is undertaken to quantify the benefits of contract farming (CF) on farmers’ income in a case where new market opportunities are emerging for smallholder farmers in Nepal. CF is emerging as an important form of vertical coordination in the agrifood supply chain. The prospect for CF in a country like Nepal with accessibility issues, underdeveloped markets, and a lack of amenities remains ambiguous. Contractors find it difficult to build links in these cases, particularly when final consumers have quality and safety requirements.

Growing inequality has become an important concern in many countries. One of the ways that inequality is perpetuated is through differential market access across regions. This research deals with one of the primary determinants of regional inequality manifested in terms of market access. Nepal is one country where hierarchical geography leads to regional inequality. Differential market access can cause as well as accentuate inequality among farmers.

Private sector agricultural extension has expanded rapidly in many developing countries in the wake of drastic funding cuts made to public extension systems in the 1980s and 1990s. Motivated by the increase in sales or contract farming revenues that extension can generate, private providers include seed and input companies, distributors and dealers, service providers, food processors and retailers, and mobile phone companies. Mixed public-private systems are now becoming common. How well can the private sector fill the gap left by dysfunctional public systems?

This study investigates the gender dimensions of the socioeconomic outcomes of selected agricultural investments in Northern Tanzania. The report draws on a review of the literature and on field research conducted in 2011. Fieldwork mainly involved stakeholder interviews and focus groups discussions with investors, local farmers, outgrowers and wage workers involved with two private-sector companies – in horticulture and jatropha – and with group-based producer schemes organized with the assistance of a member-based organization.

In order to check and promote the positive synergies between private companies and rural households, an analysis of past and ongoing experiences of contract farming is required. It represents the main objective of this report. The objectives of this study are to: describe the effects of contract farming schemes, characterize the factors limiting or promoting these various impacts, identify key findings to promote the emergence of positive synergies.