Assets, activities and income generation in rural Mexico: factoring in social and public capital

Paul Winters (), Benjamin Davis and Leonardo Corral

No 289111, ESA Working Papers from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA)

Abstract: Direct benefits from contracting accrue to smallholders from improved access to markets, improved technology, better management of risk and opportunities for employment of family members. Indirect benefits occur from empowerment of women and increased commercial acumen on the part of smallholders. Contract farming has the potential to improve the welfare of smallholders however it is not a sufficient condition for such improvement. Smaller farmers can be excluded from contracts because of selection bias by agribusiness firms awarding contracts to larger farms, be adversely affected by the second-round effects of contracts on incomes and prices and suffer from narrowing of markets that lie outside of contracts. Institutional developments that might ameliorate this type of exclusion are anti-trust legislation, policies to directly improve the contracting environment, policies to address specific problems smallholders face in entering contracts and participation by NGOs in contract facilitation.

Keywords: Agricultural Finance; Community/Rural/Urban Development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-06-06
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Assets, activities and income generation in rural Mexico: factoring in social and public capital (2002)
Working Paper: Assets, Activities and Income Generation in Rural Mexico: Factoring in social and public capital (2002)
Working Paper: Assets, Activities and Income Generation in Rural Mexico: Factoring in Social and Public Capital (2001)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:faoaes:289111

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.289111

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