Small Farmers, Big Business

This book deals with an agricultural production and marketing system known as contract farming (CF). In this system, a public or private agency purchases the crops of independent farmers through contracts, often providing inputs, technical assistance and marketing. CF has a long history in developed countries and has spread to the Third World. The book uses case studies from North America, Latin America and Africa to assess the experience to date and provide guidelines for the use of CF in the future.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements - Introduction - Frozen Vegetable in Guatemala: Tapping the Small Farmer's Potential - Asparagus in Peru: Expanding the Agricultural Frontier - McCain Foods, Canada: The Political Economy of Monopoly - Mumias and KTDA, Kenya: Public Sector Participation - Commodity Sketches: Mini-cases from Latin America - Conclusions - Policy Implications - References - Index