Nucleus-outgrower schemes as an alternative to traditional smallholder agriculture in Tanzania – strengths, weaknesses and policy requirements

Michael Brüntrup (), Fabian Schwarz, Thomas Absmayr, Jonas Dylla, Franziska Eckhard, Kerstin Remke and Konrad Sternisko
Additional contact information
Michael Brüntrup: German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
Fabian Schwarz: University of Bayreuth
Thomas Absmayr: Formerly DIE, now Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)
Jonas Dylla: Formerly DIE, now Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)
Franziska Eckhard: Formerly DIE, now Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Kerstin Remke: Formerly DIE, now Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Konrad Sternisko: Formerly DIE, now Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2018, vol. 10, issue 4, No 7, 807-826

Abstract: Abstract The public debate about the right type of agriculture for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) often constructs a dichotomy between smallholders and large-scale agriculture. This over-simplification ignores some important intermediary forms for organising agriculture, including nucleus-outgrower schemes (NOSs). NOSs promise to combine the benefits of both while potentially reducing, though not avoiding, (part of) their drawbacks. This article analyses the conditions under which NOSs are feasible and beneficial for investors, outgrowers and rural development for selected value chains in Tanzania. It is based on an empirical study comprising 276 qualitative interviews with various stakeholders conducted in central Tanzania in spring 2015 on 10 NOSs in three subsectors (rice, sugar cane and tea) in different stages of realisation (planning, establishment, full production and failure or near-failure). The study examines why investments succeed or fail in different stages, the socio-economic impacts and various policies important for their fate. Findings show that there are many challenges to successfully implementing NOSs in Tanzania, including national policies on the business environment, on agriculture in general and on specific subsectors, and, especially, on land issues. Nevertheless, these schemes seem to have considerable potential to support local development, particularly by providing employment and salaries, incomes for outgrower farmers, infrastructure and corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects as compensation for loss of access to land for the community. The specific details of a particular business model influence the opportunities and risks, but no single model seems to be superior; much depends on the subsector structure and the services already available. In general, policies to attract and steer NOSs in Tanzania are not yet sufficiently developed, coordinated or implemented.

Keywords: Nucleus-outgrower schemes; Large-scale agro-investments; Smallholders; Contract farming; Tanzania; Rural development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-018-0797-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:10:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s12571-018-0797-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ulture/journal/12571

DOI: 10.1007/s12571-018-0797-0

Access Statistics for this article

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is currently edited by R.N. Strange

More articles in Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food from Springer, The International Society for Plant Pathology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().