This project examines contract farming arrangements in the Sao Francisco Valley of northeast Brazil, It addresses the question of when, where, why and how fruit and vegetable firms seek to institute contract farming, why and how farming families become involved in them, and the outcomes for both families and firms. It tests a series of hypotheses derived from existing literature and from a preliminary field visit, about the causes and consequences of contract farming. Some of these hypotheses are about the logic of contract farming arrangements for firms: they examine the relationships between contracting and labor intensity of the production process, the destination of crops for processing, and former firm experience in sharecropping. Other hypotheses are about the impact of contract farming on the families involved. Structured interviews with a sample of contract farming families and of wage-dependent families will be used to test the hypothesis that contract farming provides higher incomes and more stable incomes; that it decreases the range of income-generating auxiliary activities that family members perform; and that success of contract farming is correlated with greater availability of labor resources. In-depth interviews with firm managers, and with contract farming families will provide additional data for interpretation and cross-checking of statistical results.
