Contribution of Contract Farming to Improve Smallholder Seed Multipliers Access to the Market In Rwanda

Abstract

This study assesses the effectiveness of contract farming in improving smallholder maize seed to have multipliers income so that the improvement strategies can be established. Contract farming is seen as linking and maintaining smallholder maize seed multipliers on the seed market and ensures sustainable maize seed supply to the Rwandan farmers after the decision of the government to pull out from bull buying of maize seeds. The results show that Contract farming could contribute to increasing maize seed production. They were reducing transaction costs and marketing risks due to different factors, such as the experience of smallholder multipliers involved. The study finds various factors that can hinder the performance of contract farming, such as limited quantity, low availability of pre-basic seeds essential for certification, pricing mechanism excluding smallholder multipliers, long process, and bureaucracy in seed payment and distribution.