Two islands - two outcomes: food, fruit, and fuel in multi-contractual farming supported by the tobacco industry

Carlos da Silva; Andrew Shepherd; Andrew Cockburn; Charles Eaton

doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2013.016

Two islands - two outcomes: food, fruit, and fuel in multi-contractual farming supported by the tobacco industry

Carlos da Silva, Andrew Shepherd, Andrew Cockburn, Charles Eaton

The contract farming of seasonal crops raises the question of how farmers can be supported when they are not producing the contracted crop. Farmer incomes and relationships between company and farmers can be enhanced if the company can provide additional incomeearning opportunities. This approach is particularly pertinent in those developing countries where management, technical, and marketing linkages are weak. In addition, many farming communities have little access to short-term finance to fund their cropping cycle, apart from sometimes avaricious money lenders. The specific focus of this study is to introduce the recent experiences of five multi-contractual projects sponsored by two tobacco organizations: PT Sadhana Arifnusa Corporation (Sadhana) in Indonesia and the Southern Development Company (SDC) in Fiji. As tobacco is a six-month crop, both companies considered that broadening their cropping base during the ‘off season’ would provide additional income for their farmers. It would also offer additional employment to seasonal workers who are employed only during the delivery, processing, packing, and storage of crops. The outcomes of this paper can act as a template for a detailed analysis that can determine the successes and constraints of multi-cropping under contract, and the promotion of farmer-company relations, including how they can restrict side-selling, a major constraint of contract farming.

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