Contract Farming and Income

Abstract

This study sought to examine the patterns and practices of contract farming, factors affecting productivity, and the impact of income in wealth creation in Urambo district, Tanzania. The specific objectives of this study were to: • Examine the contract farming practices in Urambo district; • Assess factors affecting participation in contract farming; • Identify factors that influenced smallholder farmers' productivity in the district; and • Examine the impact of income earned from tobacco production. A cross-sectional research design applied in this study because it saved time and enabled the researcher to collect data at a single point in time. The design was relatively cheap to undertake and provided useful information for statistical description and interpretation. Both primary and secondary data were collected for this study. The primary data were collected using various methods and included the use of questionnaires, observation and interviews. To reduce the non-response rate, questionnaires were administered by enumerators and any question that was misunderstood by a respondent was easily rectified in order to minimize getting wrong information. For secondary data, various publications were read. These included economic surveys, tobacco regulations, millennium development, population and housing census reports, agricultural sector development reports on the relevant information about tobacco, contract farming, 2 productivity and income of the farmers, and Urambo district economic reports on tobacco production.