Science and Technology Mailing List Archive

["Dick Tinsley" <<address removed>>]

In reviewing all the weeks exchanges I notice some comments on contract farming 
and high value crops.  Thus I would like to offer some comments.

I very much appreciate the use of contract farming as a means of increase 
smallholder income when possible.  However, I think it requires a surplus in 
stable crop production to be effective.  For this reason I think Thailand with 
the retirement of water buffalo in favor of power tillers is a good example 
where farmers have been able to get involved in contract farming.  This can 
take the form of fish ponds, with chickens or pigs on top.  Very nice and 
intensive.  It also includes some specialty vegetable production for Japan, etc.

The shift to power tillers resulted in halving the crop establishment for rice 
and thus freed resources for the more intensive activities.

Without this type of resource enhancement the contract farming can only be 
undertaken as a substitute for stable crops and thus implies farmers will have 
to buy their stable crops.  That could be a dangerous unstable situation to 
promote.

Also, high value crops are not necessarily high profit crops. The big problem 
is normally quality.  Quality is normally a function of specialized crop 
husbandry which implies higher labor inputs.  My contention is that labor 
during the growing season is really in short supply even for smallholders.  
They have to make compromises between the labor requirements of the high value 
crops and their stable subsistence crops.

These are also high risk crops.  My best example of those it AgriFlora in 
Zambia and their specialty vegetable marketing to Europe.  For their baby corn 
there is a one day window of opportunity between immature and over mature ears. 
 They also have to operate on pre-committed air-freight space.  Thus while 
farmers will enjoy some high profits with what makes it to market, they will 
also have to adsorb and lot of rejects either for quality sake or limited space 
on the planes.

I do appreciate both AgriFlora's and Cheetah's effort with out-grower schemes 
to include smallholders in their programs.  However, the quality problems are 
restricting the farmers returns.  They also organize the farmers via farmer 
organization, but I think they would be better just using field 
representations.  They were both at one time involved in production credits but 
the repayment problems have forced them out of it.

However, the whole out-grower contract farming through private corporations 
needs to be seriously looked at for its future development potential.

Dick Tinsley