Contract farming

Since around 2010, contract farming for bananas in northern Laos based on investment by Chinese companies has seen rapid expansion in northern Laos. Much of this has been implemented using the “1+4” model, where the farmers provide land and the companies take on the responsibility for labour, capital, technique and market access, but local governments have become concerned about environmental impacts and contract problems. In this paper, environmental and social impacts resulting from the introduction of banana contract farming, especially the changes brought about in the land use and working patterns of local residents have been studied through field work carried out in Oudomxay Province, northern Laos.

RESUMO: Contratos de integração vertical onde a produção e fornecimento de produtos agrícolas, florestais ou pecuários por pequenos e médios produtores rurais são pactados para serem entregues à grandes consumidores (indústria, distribuidores) têm sido importantes instrumentos nas relações comerciais entre estes grupos promovendo prosperidade mutua. Apesar das vantagens e benefícios para vendedores e compradores que estes contratos podem ter, eles também podem causar problemas graves e prejuízos para as partes levando à desconfiança e quebra dos acordos. Esta nota revisou a bibliografia relevante para identificar, analisar, e recomendar as melhores práticas para os contratos de integração vertical entre produtores rurais e grandes consumidores buscando contribuir para que estas relações comerciais sejam mutuamente vantajosas e duradouras. Esta nota está composta por três capítulos principais. O primeiro discute alguns dos princípios, práticas, e conceitos básicos associados com os contratos de integração vertical da produção agrícola. O segundo capítulo compõe-se por dez seções onde se discutem temas específicos de interesse dos contratos de produção agrícola e as melhores práticas identificadas na bibliografia revisada. O último capítulo apresenta as principais conclusões sobre as melhores práticas identificadas na revisão da literatura sobre contratações de produção na agricultura, especialmente, aquelas mais relevantes para os contratos de produção florestal. SUMMARY: Vertical integration contracts where the production and supply of agricultural, forestry or livestock products by small and medium-sized rural producers are agreed to be delivered to large consumers (industry, distributors) have been important instruments in the commercial relations between these groups thereby promoting mutual prosperity. Despite the advantages and benefits to sellers and buyers that these contracts may have, they can also cause serious problems and damages to the parties leading to mistrust and breach of agreements. This paper reviewed the relevant literature to identify, analyze, and recommend best practices for vertical integration contracts between rural producers and large consumers in order to contribute to making these commercial relationships mutually advantageous and lasting.

The strategies required to develop contract farming in the Egyptian sugar industry were examined by applying the Strength-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) approach in combination with an analytic hierarchy process. Data were collected from sugar beet farmers, extension workers, experts, and employees of the Dakhalia Sugar and Refining Company in Egypt. Market risk has the highest overall priority score among the strengths. Non-commitment of farmers to harvest time received the highest overall priority score among the weaknesses, while valorization of sugar industry wastes had the highest overall priority score among the opportunities, and accumulation of large reserves of sugar at the factory was perceived as the most important threat to the sugar industry. These findings can be used to formulate strategies based on current situation analysis and create suitable conditions for successful contract farming in the sugar sector.

The study has evaluated the effect of contract farming on price, yield, employment and net income of contract farmers in Erode and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu. The study found that the family labour participation was higher in small farms than in large farms in contract farming. Price fluctuations were very low in papaya contract farming because of pre-price fixation by the firm. Price uncertainty was very high in alternative crops. Minimum profit receivable in a month per hectare from papaya cultivation was between Rs. 7501-15, 000 with a probability of 48 per cent. Similarly probability of getting a maximum profit of Rs. 22,501-Rs. 50,000 was 60 per cent and reported that papain production was a profitable enterprise but there is a potential to further increase the profit. Contract farming of untraditional products like papain should be implemented under the close supervision of developmental department to avoid contract breach.

Diversification of Nigerian agriculture is a sine qua non for the transformation of the sector in particular and revival of the Nigerian economy in general. Such diversification implies that policy makers must desist from concentration of efforts on boosting agricultural production while at the same time downplaying investment in processing and marketing. This approach has perpetuated poverty among the small-scale farmers, stymied growth and investment in the sector and discouraged business initiatives across agricultural commodity value chains. This book advocates a new paradigm of boosting agricultural production, expanding investment in processing and guaranteeing farmers’ access to market as an integrated strategy of agro-industrialization; with a view to enhancing pro-poor growth and achieve sustainable development. The book provides evidence of achieving this desire through the instrumentality of contract farming models. It demonstrates that given strong institutional linkages between agribusiness firms and farmers with appropriate governance mechanisms, agriculture will be the attraction of investors and bedrock of industrialization and sustainable development in Nigeria.

The rewards from being in contract farming could be substantial for smallholder farmers, yet there are serious concerns about farmers’ ability to stay in the partnership for long term if appropriate policy measures are not taken. This study contributes to answer the following research questions: 1) Why do rice farmers work under contract farming in Togo? What constraints do rice farmers face in their contractual relationship with the “Enterprise de Service et Organization de Producteurs” ESOP? These research questions were addressed using using Factors Analysis and Cluster Analysis on primary data collected from a total of 414 smallholder rice farmers in Togo. From the results, recommendations were made to address constrains and improve contractual relationship in Togo, Africa and throughout the world.

This study examined the technical efficiency of cocoa
productivity through contract farming in Tanzania for improving
livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Probability sampling was
used to select 271 respondents (131 respondents from Kilombero
and140 from Kyela Districts).  A cross-sectional data were
collected using structured questionnaire from cocoa smallholder
farmers.  The data was analyzed by using NLOGIT software
version 5. The results show that the mean technical efficiency
was 79.7% and 61.6% from Kilombero and Kyela Districts
respectively. Smallholder farmers from Kilombero District were
more efficient than Kyela District within contractual
arrangement. These smallholder farmers were technically
efficient in terms of number of hours spent in farms, labour
training, experience, distance and Size of labourer. Moreover,
results show that smallholder farmers  agreed that being in
contract had increased access of training (89.3% (n=242)),
credits (80.8% (n=219)), production quantity (73.1% (n=198)),
production acreage (71.7% (n=194)), timely purchase (92.9%
(n=252)) and timely payment (95.2% (n=258)). However, results
show that 67.47% of respondents disagreed that contract farming
did not provide timely inputs and 74.9% of respondents
disagreed that contract farming helped to introduce new
technology. Therefore, findings suggest that contract farming
contributed  a lot on improving smallholder farmers’ livelihood
within contract farming

The present study determined factors that affected the proper functioning of smallholder-cooperatives in the Lepelle Nkumpi municipality, Limpopo Province of South Africa. By employing discriminant analysis, data collected from 140 cooperative members from 13 different agricultural cooperative were analysed to i dentify factors that can be used to discriminate between functional and dysfunctional agricultural cooperatives. The results indicated that the independent variables that accounted for most the differences between functional and dysfunctional cooperatives were size of cooperative, availability of stakeholders to assist in improving the level of skill of members, satisfaction of members with assistance provided, number of females in the cooperative, number of years the cooperative had been in existence, members participation in decision making and age group. It was recommended that government should intensify efforts to improve skills of members and also provide assistance to the satisfaction of cooperative members in order to assist cooperatives to become functional.

The hunky-dory of Indian economy notwithstanding, the agriculture sector has been lagging behind the GDP growth rate hovering around the region of 2%. Despite the Government"s effort to protect the marginal farmers by providing them the "right" price for their products, the suicide rate of the farmers has been shooting up. This indicates that all is not well in the Indian agriculture. In the recent times India has seen the growth of contract farming with companies directly getting into a contract with the farmers and providing them "fair" price to their produce. This is leading to corporate farming as a natural extension. A few initiatives have been taken in this regard with big corporate houses stepping in. The introduction of this type of farming and the involvement of the corporate might provide the much needed acceleration to the sector. The paper provides a critical analysis of the scenario of corporate farming and its economic viability in comparison with contract farming in India.

A soy processing company with experience in Malawi and in Uganda is entering the Ethiopia market with production and marketing of tasty soy pieces. Soy is a new crop in the country, and for entrants to become successful, they have to overcome many challenges present in the sector, which is very much in infancy. However for companies willing to take the risk, there are many opportunities, and pay-off can be substantial.

Contract farming involves a pre-agreed price between
the company and the farmer. The agreement is defined by the
commitment of the farmer to provide an agricultural commodity
of a certain type at a time and a price and the quantity required
by a committed buyer, mostly a large company. The present
paper is intended to conduct a case study of PEPSICO Plant,
located in village Channo, district Sangrur, Punjab. Present study
provides a detailed look on concept of contract farming and
relationship between processing firm and farmers in the villages
around the plant. The methodology used in the study is the
interview schedule by random collection of primary data where
the study subjects are the farmers practicing contract farming in
the villages. Study concludes that majority of the large farm size
farmers are involved in contract farming as compare to  small
farmers. But on the other hand contract faming provides a more
reliable, regular and timely sources of income to farmers.
Broadly speaking, it suggested that for the successful
implementation of contract farming there should be appropriate
co-ordination between the farmers and buyers both acting in
organized manner and advisable for both sides.

Desde el año 2008, Ecuador implementa el modelo de “cambio de matriz productiva”, impulsando políticas de subsidio y fomento productivo para alcanzar la eficiencia productiva y el auto abastecimiento de materias primas como el maíz duro. El presente artículo analiza si estas nuevas políticas de subsidio y fomento productivo enmarcadas en el desarrollo rural de los pequeños agricultores mejoran las condiciones socioeconómicas de los productores de maíz duro en dos cantones Palenque y Pedro Carbo de la costa ecuatoriana, o son simplemente un nuevo modelo de agricultura bajo contrato con “intervención Estatal”, que perpetúan el dominio del capital agroindustrial de pocas empresas tienen gran poder de mercado en cadena maíz – balanceados – aves/cerdos.

A B S T R A C T In the recent explosion of attention given to the land grabbing phenomenon, contract farming has been identified as a potentially inclusive alternative for smallholders to outright acquisition of farm land by agri-business capital. This paper responds to these claims by resituating contract farming as an equally important form of land control. The focus of the paper is a case study of potato contract farming in Maharashtra, India. While there is 'nothing new' about contract farming as a mode of agriculture production in India, its influence on patterns of agrarian change is poorly understood. Adopting an agrarian political economy-informed livelihoods approach, the paper argues that rather than an inclusive alternative to land grabbing, contract farming in the study site represents another way that capital is coming to control land in rural India, with just as important implications for agrarian livelihoods. While some individual households have improved their livelihoods through participation , the contract scheme acts to reinforce already existing patterns of inequality. In particular, the unequal power relations between firm and farmer skew the capture of benefits towards the firm, and render participating households vulnerable to indebtedness and loss of autonomy over land and livelihood decisions.

Indian agriculture is at a crossroads, where fundamental correction is required to correct its current path; this has led to introduction of co-operatives. This paper tries to understand the co-operative model for contract farming in the broadest sense of input supply, information transfer, and improved marketing channels at all levels. It uses the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (Amul) as illustrative of an ideal model of dairy co-operative for furthering the concept of co-operative based contract farming. This paper tries to address the subject both conceptually and empirically. The study finds that co-operative led contract farming can be an important instrument in the development and application of best practices and realisation of reasonable prices for farmers.

This article is an attempt to explore the problems faced by Indian agriculture for food security in terms of inadequate infrastructure and highly inefficient supply chain. Due to lack of efficient infrastructure, supply chain mechanism and food processing, around 30–35 per cent of all foods produced in India are wasted. This article examines the critical issues at subsystem of agriculture supply chain, with a view to integrating them in efficient and effective manner. This article broadly covers some important aspects of agriculture supply chain in India—identification of issues at different levels in the supply chain; transformation in the agriculture due to various supply chain interventions; and the role of information technology in supply chain management. As this article is based on both primary and secondary research methodology, it has led us to finding that there is not much research in this field in India and importance of integration in agricultural development. The article concludes that efficient supply chain plays a very important role for development and is a contemporary issue for agriculture, therefore, the government and the corporates must address the issue of integration, infrastructure development and information management to achieve the objective of a feasible agricultural sector which will lead to food security for all.

A Future Agricultures working paper. This study assesses the historical experience of three farming models that have figured in recent investments in sub-Saharan Africa: plantations, contract farming and commercial farming areas. Based on a literature review, the paper concentrates on the involvement of, and effects on, rural societies in and around the area where the schemes were located. It looks mainly at sub-Saharan Africa but also considers case studies from Latin America and Asia.

The Greek banks were affected by the crisis, their assets decreased and the credits were limited to households and businesses.  Small and medium-sized enterprises were particularly affected, since the lack of bank financing led to a reduction in production and investment. This paper  wants to explore in particular the financing of the rural and agro-food sector, due to the importance it can have on stimulating the Greek economy and exiting the crisis. A new concept of entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector-with emphasis on extroversion and innovation combined with tradition, the Mediterranean cuisine and the brand name of Greek products are elements critical to the exit from the crisis. At a more practical level, we want to explore the contribution of the banking system to supporting the agri-food sector, both in terms of funding and educational and counselling assistance.  The financial instruments relating to the primary sector and to businesses in the agro-food sector (banking and European) are  presented briefly.        In particular, this  paper  presents the program of contarct farming  in the prefecture of Imathia. The benefits for producers, businesses and banking system. The main questions we are trying to answer are: • Has contract farming improved the income and liquidity of the participants (farmers, businesses and trading circuits)? • What factors affect the participation of farmers in the programme? • What are the fields covered by the contract between businesses and farmers (e.g. purchase price of products, consultancy services, coverage of needs in agricultural supplies, product specifications and production process, etc.)  • Did the financial crisis or not affect the promotion of the program by the Greek banks? • Is contract agriculture an innovative tool, important for the modernization and development of the agricultural sector in Greece? • What is the  relationship  between contract farming  and direct payments through Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union(E.U.). Competitive or complementary?

This study centred on assessing the effect of  key
determinants of technical efficiency in cocoa production through
contract farming drawing experience of Kilombero and Kyela
districts. Primary data were collected using structured
questionnaires.  Probability sampling design was used to obtain
respondents from smallholder farmers. Whereby cross-sectional
data were collected using structured questionnaire from the
sample size of 271 respondents in Kyela and Kilombero
Districts.  The stochastic production frontier function was
estimated by using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), data
was analysed by using NLOGIT software version 5. Overall
results show that 41 percent (n=111) of smallholder farmers had
a mean technical efficiency below 50 percent and thus are
considered to be technically inefficient while 59 percent (n=160)
of them were technically efficient by more than 50 percent.
These smallholder farmers were technically efficient in terms of
number of hours spent in farms, labour training, experience,
distance and size of labourer. Moreover, results show that
smallholder farmers agreed that being in contract had increased
access of training (89.3% (n=242)), credits (80.8% (n=219)),
production quantity (73.1% (n=198)), production acreage (71.7%
(n=194)), timely purchase (92.9% (n=252)) and timely payment
(95.2% (n=258)). Whereas, the results show that 67.47% (n=183)
of respondents said,  contract farming had no impact on timely
inputs and 74.9% (n=203) of respondent disagreed that contract
farming helped to introduce new technology. Thus, the study
concluded that there is great possibility for technical efficiency to
increase agricultural productivity in contract farming.

Several public and private efforts are under way to inject foreign capital into Tanzania's agricultural sector, and sugar is a priority crop. One of the areas of Tanzania in which development is planned, the Kilombero Valley, already has a nucleus–outgrower sugarcane business. The evolution of Kilombero Sugar Company provides us an opportunity to ask what lessons can be learned from agricultural commercialisation using outgrowers and the injection of foreign capital through privatisation This paper presents findings from a study of the sugarcane business in Kilombero. We argue that a dramatic but poorly planned expansion of the
outgrower sector, combined with farmer services being
transferred or reduced, has created wealth but also systemic weaknesses that are linked to falling returns for many outgrowers and a wider problem of land scarcity. The solution to these problems lies with the state, the company and associations of cane growers, as well as sugar industry regulatory institutions.

This paper reports on a study which assessed the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in health information access and dissemination in Uganda. The project focused not only on information obtainable through libraries for research, teaching, learning and practice, but also on ICT applications concerned with the administration and planning of health services in Uganda. A thematic analysis highlighted the current state of ICT applications, the extent of applications, the roles played and problems faced. The paper further explores areas where it is used most, cost of accessing information, user profile, ICT literacy, quality of services and telemedicine in the country. It concludes that a number of challenges must be addressed if the full benefit of the use and application of ICT in health information access and dissemination is to be realized in Uganda, and draws the attention of all the stakeholders in the health sector to the need to support and promote ICT as the most effective tool for health information access and dissemination.

Kilombero Plantations Ltd (KPL) is a 5,818 hectare (ha) rice plantation located in the heart of the fertile Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. In addition to developing a large-scale rice farm, KPL works with local smallholder farmers through an outgrower model based on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technologies. The investment project receives considerable financial and technical support from various development institutions including the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and USAID. This report presents the findings of an investigation carried out in Tanzania between 2011 and 2015 of KPL’s investment venture, focusing on the impacts experienced by surrounding communities.

According to David Harvey, Accumulation by Dispossession (ABD) has become the dominant form of accumulation under the mantra of neoliberalism backed by the State policies, whether in developed or in developing economies. Using empirical evidence on contract farming in India, I argue that capitalist accumulation can indeed occur without dispossession. I show how a class of petty capitalist farmers (petty, in comparison to corporate capital) is encouraged to maintain its private property (land) and to enter into commercial contracts with big industrial (multi-national) companies to deliver certain farm products at a predetermined price. These companies have no intention to dispossess the farmers, and they do not have to. As a structure of multiple class actors (big business; capitalist farmers; rural labour), contract farming is a process that represents centralisation (and concentration) of capital and points to the ways in which agrarian and industrial capitals are intertwined. Contract farming as a form of accumulation is based on appalling working conditions of labour, including vulnerable women workers and migrants, on contract farms, and it exhibits much geographical variation in its occurrence. Acumulación por desposesión o acumulación sin desposesión: El caso de la agricultura por contrato en la India Resumen Según David Harvey, la acumulación por desposesión (APD) se ha convertido en la forma dominante de acumulación bajo el mantra del neoliberalismo respaldado por las políticas estatales, ya sea en economías desarrolladas o en desarrollo. Utilizando pruebas empíricas sobre la agricultura por contrato en la India, sostengo que la acumulación capitalista puede de hecho ocurrir sin desposesión. Muestro cómo se alienta a una clase de pequeños agricultores capitalistas (pequeños, en comparación con el capital corporativo) a mantener su propiedad 78 Human Geography ACCUMULATION BY DISPOSSESSION OR WITHOUT privada (tierra) y a firmar contratos comerciales con grandes empresas industriales (multinacionales) para entregar ciertos productos agrícolas a un precio pre-determinado. Estas empresas no tienen intención de desposeer a los agricultores, y no tienen que hacerlo. Como estructura de múltiples actores de clase (grandes empresas, agricultores capitalistas, mano de obra rural), la agricultura por contrato es un proceso que representa la centralización (y concentración) del capital y señala las formas en que los capitales agrarios e industriales están entrelazados. La agricultura por contrato como una forma de acumulación se basa en las terribles condiciones de trabajo de la mano de obra, incluidas las trabajadoras vulnerables y los migrantes, en las fincas de contrato, y exhibe gran variación geográfica en su ocurrencia. Palabras clave: Capital corporativo, centralización de capital, acaparamiento de tierras, cambio agrario, David Harvey, India

To a large extent, the Dutch settlers in New Netherland were farmers. They made the early modern American mid-Atlantic region a success, duplicating the Dutch agricultural powerhouse overseas. This article highlights the Netherlands Plain as the principal place of origin for immigrants to New Netherland by mapping out the émigré villages. Another focus is to unveil motives for emigration, some of a circumstantial nature, a few based on more personal observations.

SUMMARY : The study has evaluated cost of raw papain production, technical efficiency of farmers engaged in papain contract farming and determinants of participation of contract farming in Erode and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu. The study reported that papain production was a profitable enterprise but there is a potential to further increase the profit. The stochastic frontier analysis for technical efficiency reveals that the mean technical efficiency of the papain farmers was 94.43 and labour was used most efficiently compared to other factors of production. The logit analysis for determinants of participation in papain contract farming shows that household size, age and economic status of farmers has a positive impact on farmers' participation in papain contract farming. Contract farming of untraditional products like papain should be implemented under the close supervision of developmental department to avoid contract breach. How to cite this article : Umamageswari, M., Sharif, Mahin and Dubey, Laxmi Rani (2013). An economic analysis of papain production under contract farming in Western Zone of Tamil Nadu. Agric. Update, 8(1&2): 183-187. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Agriculture has been the target of modernisation for a long time. The earlier interventions of deploying the ‘green revolution’ technologies were a statist project and aimed at increasing productivity. The focus of public policy has shifted from increasing productivity to finding and servicing consumer markets. It is in this context that contract farming and linkages with formal retail sector have been proposed.

The erstwhile Left Front government in West Bengal, India had drafted the management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company to strategize a rejuvenation plan for the state’s agriculture. McKinsey suggested that the government should encourage farmers to enter into contract farming, which would allow them to access market, especially the international and domestic metropolitan markets. The documents produced by McKinsey were confidential, but those have been recently leaked. In this paper, I analyse these confidential documents and the proposal to transform agriculture into agribusiness. I try to locate such a proposal at the global level to understand the dynamics of (global) agribusiness and why global agri-capital advocates contract farming. Thereafter, I try to critically evaluate the prospect of contract farming in Bengal and India.

This study focus on performance of marigold supply chains in contract and non contract farming by analyzing primary data collected from randomly selected 50 contract and 50 non contract farmers of Sathyamangalam block in Erode district through personal interview method. The results revealed that efficiency of supply chain (channel I and II) in non contract farming were affected by exploitation of middlemen, lack of assured price, timely availability of inputs, lack of advanced technologies (farmers) and access to raw materials (processors) and higher retail price (consumers). The contract farming system improved the efficiency of supply chain by eliminating the above constraints and the farmers were getting higher net price in contract farming channel III. Assured price, higher yield and return were the important reason for participation in contract farming. Labour problem and lack of insurance cover were the major problem faced by the farmers in contract farming system.

La tesi analizza gli effetti dello sviluppo dell'industria ortofrutticola orientata all'esportazione sulla povertà rurale e sulle trasformazioni agrarie in Tanzania, focalizzandosi da un lato sul contract farming, il quale ha coinvolto aziende agricole, imprenditori tanzaniani e piccoli agricoltori, e dall'altro sul lavoro agricolo salariato. Il lavoro è basato su uno studio di campo di 6 mesi nei distretti nord orientali di Meru, Moshi e Lushoto.

Information and communication technologies have been hyped as the solution to solve the communication problem and poverty among the agriculture community in the developing countries.
This paper introduces a mobile application which aimed to improve the information sharing and knowledge dissemination among the farming community in Malaysia. The developed system benefits the farming community by broadcasting farming related information through mobile devices, such as weather forecast, date of important farming activities, and advices on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. However, not all kind of communication technology or channel is practical as the current infrastructure might not support the new technology or the prospective users might not afford price of the technology. Thus the matching between the target users and the appropriate level of technology to be provided is vitally important in order for the technology to be actually utilized. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the current communication infrastructure of the rice farming community in Malaysia, in order to identify the potential of applying new information and communication methods in
the agricultural community. The findings of this study indicate that Short Message Service (SMS) is the most cost effective and practical method to disseminate information to the farming community at this point of time. However, if other communication channels such as Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and mobile Internet become widely supported by the target users’ devices, they have great potential to replace the SMS method

T he present study analyses the cost and yield in contract farming. Tenure is an important aspect of contract farming. For the study, the tenants are selected from four different types of contract farming viz., Cash Contract, Sharecropping, Mortgaging and Temple contract lands. The total cost of cultivation for an acre is high for cash tenants, sharecropping, mortgage tenants and temple contract lands respectively. The profit earned is high for temple land since it is owned and cultivated for long tenure. The cost of cultivation and rental amount for temple land is low, the profit is high. But, the other contract lands involve high cost of cultivation and high rental amount. As a result, the temple contract land is more efficient as compared to other contract lands. This is due to the tenure and security involved in temple contract lands.

This paper draws on primary qualitative data to explore the accumulation strategies of indigenous exporters in the Senegalese horticultural sectors who supply European markets. It argues that exporters straddle contract and estate farming as a strategy to break through and survive in European markets, where the power of large-scale retailers is increasing and the proliferation of food standards act as a non-tariff barrier. It also analyses the relative opportunities as well as the costs of contract and estate farming.Then it focuses on how the control of buyers over suppliers is far from complete, revealing downstream and upstream spaces and dynamics of non-compliance. In conclusion, some reflections on the development of capitalism in Africa are advanced.

The study has evaluated the effect of contract farming on price, yield, employment and net income of contract farmers in Erode and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu. The study found that the family labour participation was higher in small farms than in large farms in contract farming. Price fluctuations were very low in papaya contract farming because of pre-price fixation by the firm. Price uncertainty was very high in alternative crops. Minimum profit receivable in a month per hectare from papaya cultivation was between Rs. 7501-15, 000 with a probability of 48 per cent. Similarly probability of getting a maximum profit of Rs. 22,501-Rs. 50,000 was 60 per cent and reported that papain production was a profitable enterprise but there is a potential to further increase the profit. Contract farming of untraditional products like papain should be implemented under the close supervision of developmental department to avoid contract breach.

Recent debates on land grabbing and biofuels tend to link oil palm expansion to rural dispossession, environmental degradation and rural resistance. In this paper, we examine to what extent 'enclosure', a central concept in two critiques – 'environmentalism of the poor' and 'green grabbing' – is intrinsically linked to oil palm expansion. We argue that where enclosure is absent, poor peasants may seek greater market integration over resistance to modernisation processes. We analyse how and why peasants engage in oil palm cultivation and how their involvement undermines green efforts to curb its expansion in Chiapas, Mexico. Our analysis suggests that an exclusive focus on enclosure as the main driving force behind contestation and agrarian social relationships is unable to explain agrarian dynamics and the multiple uses to which environmental narratives are put.

Mozambique provides a remarkable example the shortcomings of economic growth that lacks pro-poor orientation. After two decades of macroeconomic success, poverty reduction
has stalled. A twenty-year agricultural development programme called ProSAVANA was launched in the Northern region with the intention of reversing this tendency. It supports
the spreading of contract farming over the Nacala corridor in order to allow the entrance of foreign investors into Mozambican agriculture without automatically dispossessing local farmers. This article documents some of the programme’s practices during its planning phase and analyses its limitations in terms of preventing the inherent risks of contract farming schemes.

This article analyses the rise of export-oriented horticulture in ‘post-socialist’ Tanzania, framing
the phenomenon within the wider processes of socio-economic change. While confirming
previous research findings on the accelerated process of social differentiation, the article shows
a mixed picture regarding the effects of export-oriented horticulture on female labour and
poverty reduction, and questions the ‘mainstream’ over-optimistic claims. On the one hand,
‘contracted’ female workers seem to experience an ‘upgrade income mobility’ and (moderate)
empowerment, but with poor working condition at the workplace. On the other hand, the
article shows a considerable level of labour informality, casualisation and pauperisation of
female wage work. It concludes that the development of export horticulture, while offering
income opportunities for a minority of the workers, contributes to a process of exploitation of
the poorest and enrichment of the richest – exporters, foreign companies and Tanzanian rural
capitalists.

Contract farming, broadly understood as agricultural production carried out under a previous agreement between producers and their buyers, is increasingly preferred to other forms of exchange due to its positive economic but also social implications. Often lacking a dedicated regulatory framework at the domestic level, contract farming has recently attracted the attention of international organizations such as the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations which, together with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have prepared a legal Guide intended to provide soft guidance for the creation of a more efficient and fairer environment for this kind of economic activity. After summarizing the history and the intended purpose of the project, this paper offers a general overview of the Guide, its substantive content and steps taken so far in view of its actual implementation.

Abstract The emergence of modern value chain schemes such as contract farming in rural India are exposing households to new forms of agricultural production. Evidently, the spread of such schemes in India will have spatial implications for rural development. This short communication offers preliminary insights of the contours of these spatial implications from a case study of potato contract farming in three villages in Maharashtra, India. It is proposed that studies that combine a local-scale livelihoods approach with global value chain analysis can strengthen understanding of agricultural change and rural development by grounding value chain analysis in the place-based everyday realities of rural households. Using this approach to adopt an evolutionary view of livelihoods and value chains will lead to a much deeper understanding of possible future development pathways for rural households under conditions of agricultural transformation. Vicol, Mark 2014: Potato contract farming and 'privileged spaces': preliminary insights from rural Maharashtra. – DIE ERDE 145 (3): 142-147

This article examines the role of the Indian Punjab government
in addressing agricultural diversification through contract farming.
It also analyzes prospects of diversification for the Punjab state
employing the 59th Round of NSSO unit-level data. The findings
suggest lack of policy effectiveness for diversification in terms of
market institutions and prices which has failed to fetch better crop
incomes for the diversified farm households. The analysis of the latest
Punjab Contract Farming Act 2013 raises questions about the
interventionist approach of the government. The insights from this
article suggest that the government needs to strengthen infrastructure,
marketing and pricing structure, and identify region-specific
crops for diversification.

I am mainly concerned by limits of banana contract farming in development policies. The failure of banana contract farming is so severe that the Lao government recently called for the ban on issuing new contracts to Chinese banana investments, which shows an error in policies in rural transformation. Obviously the state initiates and ends the contract. Banana contract farming even fails to provide fair distribution of benefits, in addition with dreadful environmental impacts on the local. What contributes to the issues? What are the strategies used to negotiate the problem? This mini paper is to respond these questions accordingly. Next paragraph will give a brief on how I organize my paper.

I divide my paper into three themes upon three different questions: (1) what are the structures behind issues in agricultural commercialization? (2) why does banana contract farming develop into a conflict? (3) how do the villagers negotiate the conflict? In terms of theoretical framework, within the first theme I am fascinated to use Foucault’s notion of discourse and governmentality by looking at international institution’s role in putting development discourse to Lao PDR. In the same theme, I also look at relations between development discourse and risks management in the contract farming. For the second theme, I am going to take up what Hall, Hirsch and Li call “double ages of exclusion” with an attempt to discover the contesting logics behind banana contract farming. For the last theme, I will frame myself with the notion of multiplicity of rights and knowledge spaces (see Anan, 2008) for the benefits of examining negotiation spaces between various actors in the issue. In plain English, various actors employ multiple rights and knowledge to claim spaces for negotiating the risks in banana contract farming. In conjunction with contextualization, I write the following section to review on previous literatures on problems in rural transformation and contract farming before getting down to my own business.

The strategies required to develop contract farming in the Egyptian sugar industry were examined by applying the Strength-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) approach in combination with an analytic hierarchy process. Data were collected from sugar beet farmers, extension workers, experts, and employees of the Dakhalia Sugar and Refining Company in Egypt. Market risk has the highest overall priority score among the strengths. Non-commitment of farmers to harvest time received the highest overall priority score among the weaknesses, while valorization of sugar industry wastes had the highest overall priority score among the opportunities, and accumulation of large reserves of sugar at the factory was perceived as the most important threat to the sugar industry. These findings can be used to formulate strategies based on current situation analysis and create suitable conditions for successful contract farming in the sugar sector.

The cultivation contract is a contract strictly related with the process of production
in agriculture. It is not an obligatory contract although national and EU regulations
require that it must be signed for selected agricultural products. The aim of the article is
an attempt to indicate the contemporary role of the cultivation contract. The article also
attempts to answer the question if the current legal regulations secure the interest of both
parties of the contract. The contract in question has numerous functions, which are modified
along with the technological progress. However, it should still be seen as the main
stem of the system supplying raw materials for the agri-food industry. Besides, it also
plays a vital role as a legal instrument limiting broadly understood risk in agricultural
production.

Agrarian crisis has penetrated deep into the agriculture of Punjab since 1980s after the green revolution lost its sustenance. Agricultural diversification is being recommended as the strategy to weed out the agrarian crisis. Contract Farming was adopted by the Government of Punjab as a tool to promote diversification in the state. This paper attempts to examine empirically the extent and pace of diversification using Simpson Index of Diversity and share of contract farming in the state. The study covers a period of four decades from 1970-71 to 2000-09. It also pictures out the current status of Punjab’s agronomy and concludes that the Punjab’s agriculture has reached a saturation point. The environmental health has become the cause of concern. Despite of many recommendations and diversification attempts, there seems to be meagre changes in agronomy. The paper suggests that concrete efforts are needed by the government and the farmers so as to bring out substantial changes in the agricultural economy of the state.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present an account of a Farm Support Project in Cornwall which provides support, advice and an outreach facility for farmers in the Penwith district of Cornwall. It also discusses how effective such schemes are, particularly in an external environment which poses threats to the farm sector in the UK. Three kinds of questions about the nature of farming and the status of farmers are posed. The first set of questions includes polarisations about the hegemonic position of farmers. Second, macro-economic, and thus policy, questions concerning the economic "footprint" of the farmer and the farm's relationship with the economy are posed in Cornwall. The third set of questions concerns the economic role and entrepreneurial capability of the farmer in Cornwall. Design/methodology/approach -A desk study of the scheme's objectives, a literature review, and interviews with 27 stakeholders were reported on specifically the results of the interviews. Findings -The Penwith Scheme encompasses an integrated approach to providing business support to farmers including: sign-posting specialist advisers, the facilitation of training assistance with major grant applications, the development of "social capital" through to help in accessing sources of social support.

Ph.D. proposal to be undertaken between 2012 and 2015 in the University of Louvain (Belgium) on the Governance of the Global Food System and the unavoidable transition from oil-based agriculture to sustainable, agro-ecological and resilient food production