FANRPAN Contract Farming
Project
By Lindiwe Majele Sibanda
linds@ecoweb.co.zw
lsibanda@mweb.co.za
Study Objective
• The objective of the project is to exploit
the potential of contract farming as an
institution that can assist to
commercialize small-scale farmers
• The study will develop policies and
action plans that can be used to expand
the use of contract farming in the SADC
region.
Contract Farming Definition
• Contract farming (or out-grower
schemes) assumes an extensive
number of arrangements that link
small-scale farmers to some type
of market as a way of supporting
them to become successful
commercial farmers in the long
term.
Contract Farming Definition
(CTND)
• The farmers can be linked to markets
by either formal or informal contracts
as a result of some type of arrangement
with a buyer who adds value to the raw
commodity in some way (processing,
storage, marketing).
• For the purposes of the project, the
buyer is limited to a player in the
private sector (agribusiness sector) and
will exclude the government and
parastatal bodies.
Study Focus
• The focus is on commodities such
as groundnuts, sorghum, cotton,
paprika, sugar, poultry and
horticulture
Study Scope
• The study is being undertaken in
phases over a three year period,
starting December 2004 by teams
selected from country nodes in
South Africa, Malawi and Zambia
• A start-up planning workshop was
held in South Africa in November
2004