Contract farming preferences by smallholder rice producers in Africa: a stated choice model using mixed logic

In developing countries, smallholder farmers face many constraints including lack of information, access to credit and to markets. To overcome these constraints, resource-poor farmers can engage in contract farming. However, contracts farming need to meet farmers’ demand in order to be sustainable. This study aimed to analyze the preferences of rice farmers for agricultural contracts in Benin. Stated choice data were collected from 579 rice farmers. In order to account for heterogeneity, data were analyzed using mixed logit model. Results showed that producers preferred contracts under the following terms: short term contract (one season), payment at delivery, group selling and having processor as partner. However, the contract preference is different for men and women. The study suggests that this difference and the attribute of preferred contract need to be taking into account for the design of best-fit contract farming by rice value chain actors and policy makers in Sub-Saharan Africa