Assessing improved sorghum seed adoption and market participation under contract farming in Dodoma region, Tanzania: an endogenous switching regression approach

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Sorghum farming is vital due to its resilience and suitability in the marginal lands of Africa, playing a key role in food security and economic stability. This paper analyzed the effect of Contract Farming (CF) on the adoption of improved seeds and market participation among sorghum farmers in Tanzania. Data were collected from 400 sorghum households across three districts in Dodoma: Kongwa, Mpwapwa and Chamwino. Using an Endogenous Switching Regression model, the results show that contract farming significantly increases both improved seed adoption and market participation. Additionally, the study identifies key determinants of contract farming involvement, including location, age, gender, household size, off-farm activities, experience, sorghum demonstrations, labor, land type, leadership position, bulking distance, contract farming trust and the number of groups per village. Therefore, it is recommended that policymakers and stakeholders promote and facilitate targeted contract farming programs that strongly enhance input availability, financial services and extension services, as these improvements are crucial for boosting seed adoption and market participation. Targeted efforts in these areas are likely to yield significant improvements in sorghum production and enhance the economic stability of the farmers.