The Future of Contract Farming as a Rural Development Tool and its Impact on Productivity and Incomes of Smallholder Farmers in Red Sorghum Production in Zimbabwe: A case of Binga District in Matabeleland North Province

This study examines the potential of contract farming as a rural development tool by revealing its impact on productivity and incomes of small holder farmers in red sorghum production in Binga district of Zimbabwe. Contract farming as a business model, in this African state is characterised with numerous viability challenges as evidenced by farmers’ failure to access viable markets for all their contracted sorghum produce and declining production levels. Ingwebu Breweries the major local contractor in the district, due to the current liquidity crisis facing the country has no capacity to purchase all contracted sorghum produce and is failing to pay whatever meagre producer price they offer to desperate farmers on time; hence farmers who toil on the land are subjected to incessant languishing farmers do not get or salvage expected returns from their contracted farming venture. The design of this research study was qualitative where face-to-face household interviews, focus group discussions, and a self-administered key informant questionnaire were used for generating data. The research population was 698 red sorghum farmers from Binga one of the most marginalised districts of the country, from which a sample of 30 contracted farmers was drawn. The research study unearthed factors leading to poor contract farming scheme performance and declining productivity. Conclusions drawn from this study were that low sorghum producer prices were impacting negatively on the viability of the contract farming venture. Furthermore contracted farmers proved not to understand and appreciate the contractual conditions as outlined on contract documents. At times the inputs availed to farmers by contractors under the scheme were insufficient to push production to expected optimum levels. Recommendations suggested that contract agreements should be printed in vernacular languages for farmers to understand and appreciate contractual conditions. The government should intervene in promoting red sorghum contract farming viability by means of support producer prices or input subsidies.