Meta-analysis of contract farming

The development economics literature on contract farming has predominantly focused on the income effects for smallholders. This chapter questions the usefulness for policy and practice of this focus on distilling precise farmer livelihood effects through meta-analyses. Two meta-analyses of income effects of contract farming are examined, revealing the different definitions of contract farming used in the field, the biases in which empirical instances of contract farming are being documented, and the limited relevance of sophisticated average effect estimates due to the huge heterogeneity in contract farming arrangements. The chapter argues for a shift from meta-analysis to realist synthesis for learning about the modalities and inner workings of pre-planting services and input provisioning arrangements directed to smallholders. Whenever smallholders can easily opt out of a contract farming arrangement, the income effects of sustained contract farming will need to compensate for the risks and loss in autonomy of the parties involved. Analyzing the conditions that support the organizational social capital and collective action needed to maintain contract farming arrangements may provide actionable insights for development policy and practice.