Contract farming in Africa

Based on case studies in seven sub-Saharan countries (The Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Kenya, Malawi), this document assesses the nature and extent of CF in Africa and the influence of development assistance in its promotion, and makes recommendations addressing CF"s strengths and weaknesses. Volume One contains detailed discussions of: CF"s legal, historical, and global dimensions; its growth and sustainability; the effects of CF on land, labor, and farmer income; the economic and regional multipliers associated with CF; the role of agribusiness management, private firms, and government institutions in CF; and CF and technology transfer and extension. The final section of Volume One develops a strategy for promoting CF in ways which serve development rather than, as is frequently the case, merely commercial goals. Major needs are to: improve CF"s regional and local impacts; use CF to develop relatively poor and remote regions; develop local support for CF (currently almost entirely lacking); find the right mix of public and private sector elements; support small- and medium-scale rather than large CF schemes; and integrate CF into Africa"s ongoing economic and agricultural policy debates. Volume Two contains detailed results of the most important of the case studies: private horticultural schemes in Kenya and Senegal; joint government/private oil-palm projects in Ghana and the Ivory Coast; private poultry schemes in Senegal; and a state-managed rice scheme in The Gambia.