ABSTRACT
Debates about public expenditure in the agricultural sector have reopened in many developing and emerging economies because of high budget deficits and changes in public opinion. As a result, agricultural policy in many of these countries is beginning to take a more market-oriented approach to agrarian problems, most notably through the introduction of contract farming. This book explores the policy issues around contract farming and its transformative potential and addresses the lack of empirical research on this topic by focusing on South Asia: principally India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
The book first addresses the effects of contract farming (vertical coordination) on productivity, food security indicators (yield, consumption expenditures, prices), employment and input usage. Then it draws lessons from the South Asian case studies on the impact of institutional changes, like contract farming, on income and food security of smallholder households. The core of the book includes case study chapters on several commodities that are produced under contract farming, including vegetables and fisheries in Bangladesh, low-value crops in Nepal and coffee in India. Other chapters also explore contracts, storage, input usage and technical efficiency in these cases.
This book serves as an essential guide to academics, researchers, students, legislative liaisons and think tank groups interested in agrarian issues, agricultural economics and agricultural policy in emerging economies and particularly in South Asia.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|126 pages
Understanding the agricultural sector, transformation, value chains and contract farming
chapter 7|21 pages
Role of transaction costs in modern food retail chains
part II|117 pages
Case studies in contract farming
chapter 9|15 pages
Formal versus informal milk value chains in Bangladesh
chapter 10|10 pages
Durum wheat value chain in Pakistan
chapter 11|18 pages
Contract farming and farm performance
chapter 14|22 pages
Moving toward sustainability
part III|140 pages
Contract farming, storage and technical efficiency