Does contract farming improve smallholder income? The case of avocado farmers in Kenya

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercy Maiwa Mwambi ◽  
Judith Oduol ◽  
Patience Mshenga ◽  
Mwanarusi Saidi
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Contract Farming ◽  
Variable Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Household Farm

Purpose – Contract farming (CF) is seen as a tool for creating new market opportunities hence increasing incomes for smallholder farmers. Critics, however, argue that CF is likely to pass risks to small scale farmers, thus favouring large scale farmers at the expense of smallholder farmers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of CF on smallholder farmers’ income using a case study of avocado farmers in Kandara district in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data collected from 100 smallholder avocado farmers in Kandara district in Kenya and employs an instrumental variable model (Probit-2SLS) to control for endogeneity in participation in the contract and examine the effect of CF on household, farm and avocado income. Findings – The results indicate that participation in CF is not sufficient to improve household, farm and avocado income. Question remains regarding efficient implementation of CF arrangements to promote spill over effects on other household enterprises. Research limitations/implications – The research was carried out using farmers in Kandara district in Kenya as a case study, findings might therefore not reflect the status of CF in all countries. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the growing debate on the effect of value chain upgrading strategies such as contracting on smallholder farmers’ welfare. The form of contracting studied in this paper differs from the standard contracts in that the key stakeholders (producers) are loosely enjoined in the contract through officials of their groups.

scholarly journals Supply chain resilience in a developing country context: a case study on the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 486-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tukamuhabwa ◽  
Mark Stevenson ◽  
Jerry Busby
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Resilience

Purpose In few prior empirical studies on supply chain resilience (SCRES), the focus has been on the developed world. Yet, organisations in developing countries constitute a significant part of global supply chains and have also experienced the disastrous effects of supply chain failures. The purpose of this paper is therefore to empirically investigate SCRES in a developing country context and to show that this also provides theoretical insights into the nature of what is meant by resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, a supply network of 20 manufacturing firms in Uganda is analysed based on a total of 45 interviews. Findings The perceived threats to SCRES in this context are mainly small-scale, chronic disruptive events rather than discrete, large-scale catastrophic events typically emphasised in the literature. The data reveal how threats of disruption, resilience strategies and outcomes are inter-related in complex, coupled and non-linear ways. These interrelationships are explained by the political, cultural and territorial embeddedness of the supply network in a developing country. Further, this embeddedness contributes to the phenomenon of supply chain risk migration, whereby an attempt to mitigate one threat produces another threat and/or shifts the threat to another point in the supply network. Practical implications Managers should be aware, for example, of potential risk migration from one threat to another when crafting strategies to build SCRES. Equally, the potential for risk migration across the supply network means managers should look at the supply chain holistically because actors along the chain are so interconnected. Originality/value The paper goes beyond the extant literature by highlighting how SCRES is not only about responding to specific, isolated threats but about the continuous management of risk migration. It demonstrates that resilience requires both an understanding of the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes and an understanding of the embeddedness of the supply network. Finally, this study’s focus on the context of a developing country reveals that resilience should be equally concerned both with smaller in scale, chronic disruptions and with occasional, large-scale catastrophic events.

Value chain approaches to development

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie D. Ricketts ◽  
Calum G. Turvey ◽  
Miguel I. Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Export Markets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Rainforest Alliance ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Production Practices ◽  
Price Risks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at the ever-popular, “value-chain approach” for linking smallholder farmers to high value export markets. Conventional wisdom says that value chains undertaken for development purposes redistribute risk and provide benefits and services to participants that are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain. The authors take a farmer-centric approach and ask farmers participating in these higher value chains if they perceive greater, or different risks and compare results to their conventional counterparts. The authors also ask what benefits they associate with participation and if they believe they believe those benefits are exclusive to value chain participation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collect data from growers in three different cocoa value chains in Ashanti, Ghana. These chains include one focussed on certified production practices (Rainforest Alliance), one that focussed on high-value product characteristics (Fine Flavor) and a conventional chain, which serves as counterfactual. Findings – The paper finds differences in perceptions of participation risks and benefits – particularly among price risks – that appear to filter based on value chain membership. However, for many risks, value chain participation seems to do little to redistribute potential production shocks. With some exceptions, growers report that many of the benefits they enjoy as a result of participation could feasibly be accessed by other sources. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of this paper are related to sample size. This was managed from a statistical perspective. Social implications – The authors explore how these results might impact the sustainability of the value chain approach and encourage donors and development agencies to be thoughtful and critical about measuring how farmers perceive new market opportunities. Originality/value – The authors believe that this is the first paper prepared to critically investigate the perceived benefits of value chains.

scholarly journals Linking Smallholder Farmers to Potential Beef Markets: A Case Study of Livestock Farmers in Pakistan

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Humera Iqbal ◽  
Khizar Hayat ◽  
Anam Afzal ◽  
Emma Hand ◽  
David McGill
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Product Information ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cull Cows ◽  
Market Signals ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Product Specifications

In Pakistan there are no dedicated beef breeds consequently beef meat is a by-product of the dairy industry in the form of cull cows and male calves. Smallholder farmers supply up to 80% of animals slaughtered and decisions to sell their animals is driven by a need to generate cash in a time of necessity rather than in response to market signals. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate beef market opportunities for smallholder farmers with the objective of increasing their income from their beef animals. Using a rapid value chain assessment seven potential beef markets in Punjab and Sindh were assessed and one was studied in detail to evaluate the opportunities and risks for smallholder farmers in beef value chains. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with beef value chain actors including; consumers (10), retailer (1), traders (12), feedlot farmer (1) and smallholder farmers (9). The interview data was analyzed using content analysis within value chain framework comprising of different flows (product, information and financial) and relationships among the chain actors. The results indicated that supplying directly to the retailer was indeed a potential opportunity for smallholder farmers provided they can meet product specifications. This study describes what capacity building support would be required to enable smallholder farmers to implement more focused and cost-effective rearing strategies leading to a reliable and consistent supply for this retailer. If successful, this could be used as a model for market interventions for other farmers leading to increased beef production and profitability.

Restructuring toward a modernized agro-food value chain through vertical integration and contract farming: the swine-to-pork industry in Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 493-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dzung Dao Dong ◽  
Masahiro Moritaka ◽  
Ran Liu ◽  
Susumu Fukuda
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Strategic Alliance ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Contract Farming ◽  
Vertical Coordination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Pork Industry

PurposeRestructuring swine and pork value chain plays important role in agriculture reformation of Vietnam, the top global pork-lover and swine producer worldwide. This study aims at investigating the modernization of its entire swine-to-pork value chain.Design/methodology/approachThis study combines the secondary data and primary data. The secondary data included the publications, procurements, databases from both worldwide and in Vietnam. Primary data comprised the results from field-trips in March 2018 and February 2019 that used in-depth interviews with representative key persons of involving stake-holders.FindingsThe prevalence of contract farming, vertical expansion and conglomerate mergers mainly boost vertical coordination in the industry, which creates three hierarchy paradigms of governance named the full- and semi-vertically integrated model, and the formal coordinating relation institution. Consequently, consolidation has occurred and lead the swine and pork value chain toward modernization.Research limitations/implicationsThis study generalizes its first trends of the modernization of the swine-to-pork industry instead of provides its concreted impacts to the involved stakeholders.Social implicationsSwine and pork industries retain historical and socio-political issues in Vietnam. Social problems are going to raise if number of traditional swine producers are failed in the competition from the equipped large-scale producers leading by the giant vertically-integrated contractors.Originality/valueThis study provides the empirical synthesis of the vertical coordination in entitle swine and pork value chain of Vietnam through combining the view of the strategic alliance of the firm and global value chain governance.

scholarly journals Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Markose Chekol Zewdie ◽  
Michele Moretti ◽  
Daregot Berihun Tenessa ◽  
Zemen Ayalew Ayele ◽  
Jan Nyssen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Approach ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

In the past decade, to improve crop production and productivity, Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious irrigation farming expansion program and has introduced new large- and small-scale irrigation initiatives. However, in Ethiopia, poverty remains a challenge, and crop productivity per unit area of land is very low. Literature on the technical efficiency (TE) of large-scale and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the non-user farmers in Ethiopia is also limited. Investigating smallholder farmers’ TE level and its principal determinants is very important to increase crop production and productivity and to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihood and food security. Using 1026 household-level cross-section data, this study adopts a technology flexible stochastic frontier approach to examine agricultural TE of large-scale irrigation users, small-scale irrigation users and non-user farmers in Ethiopia. The results indicate that, due to poor extension services and old-style agronomic practices, the mean TE of farmers is very low (44.33%), implying that there is a wider room for increasing crop production in the study areas through increasing the TE of smallholder farmers without additional investment in novel agricultural technologies. Results also show that large-scale irrigation user farmers (21.05%) are less technically efficient than small-scale irrigation user farmers (60.29%). However, improving irrigation infrastructure shifts the frontier up and has a positive impact on smallholder farmers’ output.

Building insurance through an NGO

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Christine Bélanger
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Crop Insurance ◽  
Specific Training ◽  
Close Collaboration ◽  
Agricultural Insurance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Purpose – This paper is based on a crop insurance implementation currently undergoing in Haiti. The purpose of this paper is to present the development of a program tailored to rice production in the Artibonite Valley, the challenges and opportunities that are arising from the exercise as well as pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Design/methodology/approach – The Système de Financement et d’Assurances Agricoles en Haïti’s approach for the development of crop insurance is in accordance with 13 concepts considered essential in the implementation of agricultural insurance programs. The case study is presented through each of these 13 fundamental concepts. Findings – The paper provides an insight on challenges any organization will face when implementing crop insurance for smallholder farmers. It points out notably that close collaboration of executing agencies with local partners is essential from data collection through insurance development and delivery and that all participants should receive a specific training tailored to their level of education and understanding. Social implications – Haiti is one of the poorest countries on the planet. Smallholder farmers could benefit a lot from crop insurance. It could help them stabilize their income when facing crop losses due to natural hazards or uncontrollable natural events. Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified need to share real case studies exposing challenges faced when implementing crop insurance for smallholder farmers.

scholarly journals Explaining participation in undeclared work in France: lessons for policy evaluation

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 203-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Windebank ◽  
Ioana Alexandra Horodnic
Keyword(s):  
Policy Framework ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
French Population ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Actor ◽  
Tax Morale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Actor ◽  
Undeclared Work

Purpose France is a model of best practice in the European Union as regards policy to combat undeclared work. The purpose of this paper is to take the country as a case study to evaluate the competing explanations of why people engage in undeclared work which underpin such policy, namely, the dominant rational-economic-actor approach and the more recent social-actor approach. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate these approaches, the results of 1,027 interviews undertaken in 2013 with a representative sample of the French population are analysed. Findings The finding is that higher perceived penalties and risks of detection have no significant impact on the likelihood of conducting undeclared work in France. In contrast, the level of tax morale has a significant impact on engagement in the activity: the higher the tax morale, the lower is the likelihood of participation in the undeclared economy. Higher penalties and risks of detection only decrease the likelihood of participation in undeclared work amongst the small minority of the French population with very low tax morale. Practical implications Current policy in France to counter undeclared work is informed principally by the rational-economic-actor approach based on a highly developed infrastructure for detection and significant penalties alongside incentives to declare small-scale own-account work. The present analysis suggests that this approach needs to be supplemented with measures to improve citizens’ commitment to compliance by enhancing tax morale. Originality/value This case study of a country with a well-developed policy framework to combat undeclared work provides evidence to support the social-actor approach for informing policy change.

How “The Three Rules” guide strategy and investment decisions at Deloitte Consulting LLP

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Moffatt
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
First Case ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Thought Leadership

Purpose – This case example looks at how Deloitte Consulting applies the Three Rules synthesized by Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed based on their large-scale research project that identified patterns in the way exceptional companies think. Design/methodology/approach – The Three Rules concept is a key piece of Deloitte Consulting’s thought leadership program. So how are the three rules helping the organization perform? Now that research has shown how exceptional companies think, CEO Jim Moffatt could address the question, “Does Deloitte think like an exceptional company?” Findings – Deloitte has had success with an approach that promotes a bias towards non-price value over price and revenue over costs. Practical implications – It’s critical that all decision makers in an organization understand how decisions that are consistent with the three rules have contributed to past success as well as how they can apply the rules to difficult challenges they face today. Originality/value – This is the first case study written from a CEO’s perspective that looks at how the Three Rules approach of Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed can foster a firm’s growth and exceptional performance.

Societal discontent will increase in Bahrain

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Base Level

Significance Although large-scale social protest in Bahrain has been cowed over the ten years since the ‘Arab uprisings’, small-scale demonstrations recur, reflecting a base level of discontent. Mobilising issues include economic pressures, limited political representation (especially of the Shia majority) and, most recently, ties with Israel. Impacts Despite protests, Israel’s and Bahrain’s respective ambassadors will keep up high-profile activity and statements. The authorities are likely to exaggerate the role of Iranian interference in order to deepen the Sunni-Shia divide. If Riyadh manages to extricate itself from the Yemen war, that could partly reduce the pressure on Manama.

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