In recent years, Ghana has witnessed increased interest from private companies in developing agricultural investments. This trend is common to many lower/middle income countries. It has translated in a surge in large-scale land acquisitions in many lower/middle income countries, including Ghana, but also in agribusiness ventures that source produce from local farmers. While much [...]

As a result of a number of recent developments, such as the milk strike in several European countries in 2008 and the planned expiration of the European milk quota scheme in 2015, it is necessary to redesign contractual relationships in the dairy industry. However, fostering acceptance of new stipulations (e.g., [...]

Un consensus fort émerge actuellement autour de l’idée qu’un soutien à l’agriculture familiale est le moyen le plus efficace pour lutter contre la pauvreté et la faim dans le monde tout en relevant les multiples défis liés au maintien et au développement de l’emploi rural, à la préservation de l’environnement, [...]

Contract farming has recently risen to prominence in the development literature because of the potential benefits that may result from sound contractual practices in agricultural production. This paper will first highlight examples to show the range of forms that the legal framework governing contract farming may take (II). Section III will [...]

The report summarizes the presentations and discussions held during the Session on Contract Farming of the International Conference on Value Chains for Transforming Smallholder Agriculture, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6 to 9 November 2012. Moderated by Andrew Shepherd of CTA, the session gathered a panel of [...]

This review tries, through the analysis of academic, institutional and technical literature and through the study of some documented contract farming cases, to give some answers to the most frequently raised questions concerning contract farming practices: Are smallholders excluded from contract farming? Do contract participants display significantly higher incomes than [...]

Contract farming allows the sharing of production and marketing risks between farmers and agribusinesses. It therefore has the potential to benefit both stakeholders in several ways. However, contract farming can have several disadvantages for farmers and business too, especially in developing country contexts where weak government, policy and governance frameworks lead to contractual [...]

The objective of this article is to determine the efficiency of the poultry farm in Bangladesh and to assess the influence of contract farming system, using a data envelopment analysis. Seventy-five commercial poultry farms (25 and 50 independent and contract farms, respectively) were randomly selected. The results reveal that efficiency [...]

In emerging markets for high-value food products in developing countries, processing companies search for efficient ways to source raw material of high quality. One widely embraced approach is contract farming. But relatively little is known about the appropriate design of financial incentives in a small farm context.We use the example of the [...]

[Author: Melese, A. T] The paper provides an overview of contract farming by discussing CF business models and their potential advantages and disadvantages for both contracting parties (farmers and agribusinesses) as presented in the specialist literature. By referring to empirical literature, the paper also touches upon the question of whether smallholders [...]